


By Design

by marvelousmsmol



Series: By Design [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: 16 & 17 years old, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Coworkers to lovers, F/M, Fashion & Couture, Mutual Pining, Oblivious Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Requited Unrequited Love, but there is AN umbrella, chaotic cousins felix and adrien, marinette dupain cheng is a boss bitch, normal angsty teenage level of cursing, there was no Umbrella Scene™
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:27:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 38,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25234657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marvelousmsmol/pseuds/marvelousmsmol
Summary: After emancipating himself from his father, Adrien knows that's not enough. Hoping to expose his father's less than ethical business practices, he makes plans to start his own rival fashion company. Though he has the business side of the industry down and the financial backings of his cousin, Felix, who hates Gabriel Agreste just as much as he does, Adrien finds he lacks the artistic eye to design a successful clothing line. Luckily for him, his classmate, Marinette Dupain Cheng, might be an easy hire, and she comes with the added bonus of being able to poach the best up and coming designer from his father.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: By Design [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1895581
Comments: 148
Kudos: 365





	1. Chapter One

“The Court hereby grants the emancipation of one Adrien Agreste from his biological father and guardian, Gabriel Agreste, gives him the full capacity of the age of majority, and orders the settlement of monetary compensation for all work completed by Adrien Agreste while employed by the Gabriel Fashion House,” The judge wasn’t looking him in the eye as he said this, and with his back turned to the rest of the courtroom and the press lining the walls, no one could see the absolutely giddy look on Adrien’s face as the judge read the verdict. Even his father was looking down at this hands, his face not changing from the scowl that had been there as long as he could remember. It took almost all of Adrien’s willpower not to starting howling in celebration. There would be time for that after. “Court adjourned.”

As soon as the judge finished speaking, the cacophony of voices filled the room, and people stood to file out through the doors. The young lawyer Adrien had hired clapped him on the back and whispered a congratulations in his ear. Adrien smiled and nodded, thanking him in turn and then again as she promised to help him push his way through the crowding press till he made it to his car. 

People were shouting his name, snapping pictures of him as he walked. At the door leading out to the corridor, Nino Lahiffe was waiting for him and joined him in stride, using his arm to block those attempting to shove a microphone in his best friend’s face. He had already decided to not make a comment. Now out of the spotlight, no longer forced to live in his father’s house or work for his father’s company, Adrien didn’t much care to make statements to the public. 

They made it out to the car waiting at the sidewalk for them without much issue. As soon as the door was shut, and the flashing lights of cameras dimmed, Adrien let out a sigh of relief. He realized in the moment that he hadn’t once looked back at his father as he left the room, and his heart lightened. 

“Are you going to be okay, dude,” Nino asked staring at his friend in concern, who was only looking off in the distance with a smile on his face. “Like, I’m not doubting your decision, and we’ve already offered to let you stay with us for as long as you need, but are you good with after that?”

Adrien nodded. “Yeah,” He said. “Yeah, I think I will.”

“Good,” Nino said, pausing for a second. “Do you still want to cry a little?”

“Maybe just a little.”

“Okay.”

Nino and Adrien shared a small fit of laughter as Adrien let the tears roll down his cheeks. Happy tears, they new that, but it didn’t make the moment any less cathartic. They pulled each other into a hug and clapped each other on the back to keep up the guise of a tough exterior. 

\----------------------

Sleeping on the ground of Nino’s bedroom was probably the most physically uncomfortable Adrien had ever been, but being outweighed by the emotional freedom he felt, it didn’t much matter in the moment. He stared up at the ceiling, almost too wound up to actually even close his eyes. 

Still, there was a tight feeling in his chest, a nervousness that he hoped would disappear with time. The thought of waking up tomorrow, having the events of today be a lie, and that he would have to go back to that big, heartless house filled him with a lingering dread. That was part of what was keeping him awake, along with the excitement. 

Adrien couldn’t go back, he’d run and hide before anyone would force him to. If he had to leave the country, he would do it. He refused to be drawn back into a prison by that man. 

Adrien had already considered running, asking the driver to take him to the airport rather than Nino’s home had been in the back of his mind. He had even put his passport in his jacket pocket that morning to make things easier. Adrien couldn’t forget though, he’d thought about emancipation for a long time, but something had been the breaking point. He couldn’t forget that there was still something he needed to do, things he needed to fix and make up for. It shouldn’t really be the job of a son to pay for the sins of his father, and though Adrien didn’t plan on really paying for them, he was at least going to make sure to make up for them. 

It was easy to think at sixteen he could save the world, or at least the ambition in his head made it seem as great as saving the world, and he was counting on the naivety of his youth to give him the push he needed to at least try.


	2. Chapter 2

Getting up at four thirty in the morning, it should have been physically impossible for Marinette to be late to school, but when at five she’d been forced to go in to work and stay until the last possible second before she needed to sprint to school. 

“See you back at 3:30, Natalie,” Marinette said as she shoved her things back into her bag. Natalie barely raised her head as Marinette headed out the door. 

Marinette didn’t mind coming in early before school to help get a headstart on the day’s work, it was just another way that showed that she was trusted, and the her bosses saw her as having potential. Her work with Gabriel was only supposed to be a summer internship, the result of her winning yet another one of their junior design competitions for the third year in a row, as a matter of fact, but when the new term rolled around and her internship was supposed to start rapping up, but, surprisingly, she was asked if she’d like to stay on through Fall Fashion Week, Marinette jumped at the chance. She was lucky enough to have the opportunity to start her career path at such a young age, and anyone wanting to be involved in the competitive world of fashion would be crazy to pass up a chance like this. Not only that, but getting to work directly under Natalie Sancouer, the head assistant to Gabriel Agreste himself, she was getting a little look into the business side of the industry. It was extremely refreshing, especially since she had spent the summer months in a hot room, sewing buttons onto clothes while designers screamed at each other in the background before eventually sending her on yet another coffee run. 

It was just a quick trip on the metro before she reached the front steps of her lycee, surprisingly, five minutes before the bell rung. Alya was there waiting for her, the usual when Marinette wasn’t making into class seconds before the bell rung. 

“Girl, you’re going to run yourself into the ground at this rate,” Alya said, shaking her head and handing Marinette her second cup of coffee. Already, she was relying on caffeine to stay awake. 

“It’s only another week,” Marinette said. “And then, I get to be a normal teenager for the rest of the year when I, hopefully, win for the fourth year in a row and do this all over again.”

“And then graduate, permanently get sucked into your job and work until your reduced to nothing more than a pile of ashes in an office chair,” Alya said.

“This is really funny coming from you, you know,” Marinette said, quirking an eyebrow. “Which one of us is constantly updating their blog, day and night, while simultaneously running the school newspaper entirely by herself, so she can build up her resume enter the workforce and go to university at the same time?”

“Touché,” Alya nodded, conceding the fact. Looking down the street a little ways, Alya’s eyes caught the sight of two others heading their way. “Oh, Loverboy is heading this way. Along with my boyfriend.”

“When are you going to stop calling him Loverboy,” Marinette said, shaking her head, but not expecting an answer. “I’ve got to head inside.”

Marinette turned to walk away, but Alya grabbed her by the arm, stopping her in her tracks. “What, you’re not going to say hi?”

“I… can’t.”  
Alya raised her eyebrow, waiting for a further explanation. Marinette glanced nervously at Adrien and Nino, who were getting closer by the second. “It’s I- I work for his father, Alya.”

“So?”  
“So,” Marinette said. “He just got emancipated yesterday. It’s just kind of awkward.”

“I’m sure he understands,” Alya said. “That boy’s too nice to resent you for something like that.”

Marinette shook her head. “I’ll see you inside.”  
Turning and walking up the steps, Marinette could just make out the voice of Nino greeting Alya above the sounds of the busy street. Just as she made it to the door, she turned and glanced back, only to see that Adrien was looking directly at her. He smiled and waved at her, appearing as friendly as ever. It didn’t surprise her that Alya had been right. It was her own inclinations, specifically the fact that she’d never been able to string two sentences together when speaking to him. 

She also felt guilty for exactly what she had said before. Marinette didn’t know exactly what, but she did now that there had to be some reason why Adrien had decided to get out of his father’s house. With a foot already in the fashion industry, Marinette had begun to reconcile the fact that she’d be working with some less than morally upstanding individuals. No matter how great their work might be or how many opportunities they might give, it wouldn’t change their character. 

The goal wasn’t to be working for them forever though. It was to become better than them in everyway possible. 

With classes so close to starting, Marinette wasn’t sitting alone in her seat for so long. Alya joined her not long after she sat down, and Nino and Adrien took their seats at the font of the class, the same way they had been sitting since college. 

Nino turned around in his seat. “Hey, Nette, we decided that since Adrien’s staying with me right now that she and I would turn our date tonight into a group hangout.”

“I told you guys, you didn’t have to do that,” Adrien said.

“We don’t mind,” Alya said. “Besides we all haven’t hung out in awhile. It’ll be fun.”

Alya looked at Marinette expectantly, who chuckled softly as she tried to think of the proper response. “I have to be at work,” Marinette said, but trailed off slightly at the end as she noticed the look on Alya’s face. “But… maybe I can try and come after?”

“Great, Nino said with a smile. “We’ll say 8:00 then? We could go see a movie?”

“Oh, Juleka said that her brother’s band is playing at one of those teen clubs tonight,” Alya said. “That might be fun.”  
“Alya, it’s a school night,” Marinette said. “I have-”

“If you say you have to get up and go to the office before school again tomorrow, I’m sorry, but I’m going to my pencil through the palm of your hand. It’s a Thursday and there’s nothing going on tomorrow except for the sports tournament, so it’s only like 75% a real school night,” Alya said. “It’ll be fun, and you don’t even have to stay the entire time.”

“I’ll walk you home if you decide you want to leave early, Marinette,” Adrien said, and she startled at the sound of her name coming from his lips. “I don’t mind, and then these two can actually have some semblance of a date without feeling guilty about leaving us out.”

“Yeah,” Marinette said breathlessly. “Yeah, I’ll take that into consideration.”  
Adrien smiled and turned back around as the teacher stepped up to the front of the classroom. Alya leaned over, whispering in Marinette’s ear. “I saw that,” She said. “The heart eyes.”

“From me?”

Alya just hummed and shrugged her shoulders, turning her attention to the front of the classroom.

\----------------------

Marinette sat in front of the computer at her small desk, located on a few feet away from Natalie’s. The assistant had passed off some work finalizing the order in which the models would be walking the runway. She had been told she was allowed to make any changes she thought necessary before passing it off to Monsieur Agreste for final approval. Marinette did she one or two looks she thought should be moved forward or backward down the line in order to make the show as a whole look more coherent. 

Close to when she was finishing up, Marinette watched as Gabriel Agreste stormed through the room and into his office, shutting the door behind him. Marinette glanced at Natalie, who nodded, before standing up and heading towards the door Monsieur Agreste had just previously slammed shut. She knocked sharply on door, hoping that it would sound confident enough. The first day she started working here, he had told her rather brusquely that she knocked on the door like she was nervous to enter, which she had been. Since then, she had made a point not to let her nervousness show. 

“Come in.” Monsieur Agreste’s voice sounded muffled through the closed door. 

Marinette huffed and opened the door after a moment. “Monsieur Agreste,” She said as she entered. “I have the lineup ready for you to lookover.” 

Monsieur Agreste motioned for her to set it down on the desk in front of him. Marinette knew better than to wait for him to say anything else before she did as she was told. She set the papers down and stood silently with her hands folded in front of her, feeling like a child waiting for a teacher to inevitably scold her. Gabriel looked through the pages quickly, not nodding, not shaking his head, or even making a sound. He straightened up the papers before setting them down on the desk and looking up at Marinette for the first time since she entered the room.

“Why did you decide to move number 31 to 16 and 13 to 40,” He asked.

“Number 31 matched with the rest of its group because of the metallic motif used throughout, but I thought because the pattern of the top was the same as those in group two that it would be better placed there,” Marinette said almost mechanically. She’d been practicing her explanations in her head before she entered the room. She couldn’t afford to stutter. “And, number 13’s silhouette, and the fact that it should be considered formal wear, meant it better belonged in group four, but it wasn’t as artistic as the rest of the pieces in that group so I placed in the beginning as a transition from the more casual business wear style of group three.”

Gabriel nodded and set the papers back down on the desk. “Make copies for all the departments and mark it completed on the spreadsheet.”

“Right,” Marinette said, taking the papers back off of his desk. She turned to walk out of his office when Gabriel cleared his throat, signaling for her to stay.

“Did anything else get finished today,” Gabriel asked. 

“Well, Marinette said, flipping to another piece of paper on her clipboard. “The pattern cutters have finished, and the seamstresses are ahead of schedule on putting together the final pieces.”

“Good,” Gabriel said. Marinette folded the papers back down and turned on her phone, looking at the time. “Let them know I’ll be coming down to the atelier- Miss Dupain Cheng.”

Marinette jumped slightly as he said her name with such a harsh tone. “Yes, sorry.”  
“Is there something more interesting on your phone than your work,” Gabriel asked.

“No, sorry,” Marinette said, putting her phone away in her pocket. “My friends were bugging me about going out tonight at eight and it’s seven… forty-five- Nevermind, it doesn’t matter.”

Gabriel was silent for a moment. “These friends,” He said. “That’s Lahiffe and Cesaire, correct?”

“Yes, actually,” Marinette said, surprised that he had actually remembered their names, or at least just their last names.

Folding his hands in his lap and leaning back leaning back in his chair, Gabriel paused for a moment before speaking. “Miss Dupain Cheng, why don’t you go on and head out for the night. It seems we are ahead of schedule anyway.”

“Are you sure,” Marinette said. “I- I can stay if you need me to.”

“No, no,” Gabriel said. “Just let Natalie know you’re leaving on your way out.”

“Okay,” Marinette said, hesitating before she went out the door. “Thank you.”

Marinette collected her things and waved goodbye to Natalie, who barely gave her two seconds of acknowledgement. With a quick second to send of a text to Alya, Marinette made the decision to hop in a cab and head straight to the venue. 


	3. Chapter Three

Marinette hopped out of the cab, quickly paying the driver and probably giving him a greater tip than she needed to, but she was running late, having not expected the amount of traffic there was on a Thursday evening. There was a little bit of a drizzle coming down from the now dark sky, making the concrete sidewalks look colorful and illuminated under the neon lights of open convenience stores and restaurants. She had her jacket collar pulled up slightly to cover her neck and hurried inside before her hair got too messed up from the rain. 

As soon as Marinette opened the door to Au Carré, the loud sounds of cheering voices hit her like a train. Juleka’s brother Luka’s band was already playing, and Marinette cursed the fact that she was later than she would like to be. She just hoped no one would hold that against her. 

“Hey Marinette!” She heard a voice call her name as she scanned the room for her friends. Jumping slightly as Adrien appeared in front of her, she sighed in relief at the fact that she wouldn’t have to go looking for her friends for a long time, further adding onto her lateness. “I’m so happy you made it-”  
Marinette smiled and nodded as he kept talking. Her head tilted slightly as she was drawn in. Even after all this time, she couldn’t help getting lost when she looked at him. Marinette would admit that the crush she had on Adrien had died down significantly since college, but that didn’t mean she was now blind to the fact that he was still pretty. Still, she had enough sense in her brain to nod slightly as he was talking to her, just to make it seem like she could actually hear what he was saying. 

“Come on, I’ll show you where Alya and Nino are waiting for us,” Adrien said, and grabbed Marinette’s hand, leading her through the crowd. 

The place was surprisingly packed for a Thursday night. Marinette was able to make it through the crowd fairly easily, especially with Adrien guiding her way through. She bumped into another person and almost slipped out of Adrien’s grasp, but at the last second, tightened her hand around his. Adrien looked back at her, squeezing her hand in return and giving her a reassuring smile. Marinette’s cheeks turned red, and the color deepened with the realization that she was, in fact, holding his hand. 

As they reached the table, they separated, sitting on opposite sides of the table with Nino and Alya between them. It made sense that way. They weren’t on a double date. They were both the best friend of their mutual friends who were dating each other. Marinette only had herself to blame for not being closer to Adrien. They’d not spoken a lot with each other before, and never once had they hung out together on their own, except for one school-related activity where they practiced for a doubles game tournament together. 

“Did they just start,” Marinette said, clearing her throat as she got Alya’s attention. 

“Second song,” Alya said. “Thanks for making it.”

“Wouldn’t dream of missing,” Marinette said. “Especially since you threatened to stab me with a pencil.”

“You know I wouldn’t really.”

“I’m never going to count on the fact that you wouldn’t.”

Marinette sat with her hands in her lap, her feet swinging above the ground due to the high, barstool style chairs. She had to admit, Luka’s band was pretty good. Not really her style of music, but it was fun to watch them perform. Time moved on slowly in a sort of awkward air that hung around the table. Alya and Nino were able to make conversation well enough and able to include Adrien and Marinette well enough, but when they became too wrapped up in each other, the other two tablemates were left to their own devices. 

After about an hour and a half, Marinette leaned back in her chair a let out a yawn. She tried to cover it up, determined not to be the one who went home before ten, but, just her luck, Adrien had turned his head and caught her in the act. He smiled a little, and leaned across the table, speaking at a louder volume to be heard over the music.

“Are you ready to go,” He asked. “I can walk you.”

“I, uh-” Marinette fumbled for a response. She couldn’t imagine how awkward a situation like that might be. What would they talk about the entire time? Though, Marinette knew she didn’t have enough money to take a cab again. She yawned again before she could protest, and Adrien got up out of his chair, leaning down to talk to Nino.

“I’m going to take Marinette home,” He said. “You know before she falls asleep at the table.” 

Nino and Adrien said their goodbyes as he gathered up his coat. Alya pulled Marinette over and kissed her on the cheeks. “Night. Thanks for coming out for a while. I know you didn’t really want to.”

“Of course I wanted to. I love hanging out with you guys,” Marinette said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Marinette grabbed her jacket as she stood up and waved goodbye as they walked towards the door. She was keenly aware of Adrien’s presence at her side, moving through the crowd with just as surprising ease as he led her before. Ever the gentleman, Adrien opened the door for her and motioned for her to step out onto the street. Marinette immediately went to pull up her collar again. The rain hadn’t stopped drizzling, but at least it hadn’t begun pouring. 

“It’s not far from here, right,” Adrien said as he rejoined her and they started heading down the street. “I think I could remember how to get there from here, but this is about one of the first times in my life I’m going somewhere where I’m not being driven by someone else.”

“Is- is it a nice difference,” Marinette asked. Her breath caught in her throat as Adrien huddled closer to her, avoiding someone else who was walking past them.

“Yeah,” Adrien responded, nodding. “Yeah, I mean, I never really got to do stuff like this before. Walk home with my friends, I mean.”

“Friends,” Marinette asked, her head snapping quickly to look at him. 

“I wasn’t really allowed to hang out with you guys all that much before,” Adrien said. “I can do whatever I want now, so hopefully the four of us will be able to hang out a lot more now. I’d really like that.”

Marinette smiled and tried to stop the delighted giggle from escaping her lips. “I’d like that, too.”

“Good,” Adrien said, nodding and flashed her a smile. 

Even though the short conversation succeeded in making Marinette feel a little more comfortable with Adrien, she still didn’t know what to do or how to say anything further. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, depending on how you look at it, the moment the rain started pouring, Marinette and Adrien started running, holding their jackets over their heads as they made it the rest of the way to her parent’s bakery. 

They stopped outside the side door that led directly to the apartment above. Marinette squinted to see Adrien through the rain and the dark. She took notice of his soaked clothes and uncomfortable expression.

“Do you want to come up for a minute,” Marinette blurted out before she could stop herself. Adrien’s face lit up, and she knew she couldn’t take it back. With a nod, Marinette unlocked the door and went inside. 

Shedding her jacket, she hung it up on one of the hooks by the door. As Adrien was about to do the same, she grabbed it from him. “We’ll take it upstairs and hang it by the heater. That way it’ll dry faster.”

“Oh,” Adrien said. “Thank you. I promise I won’t stay long. I don’t want to intrude.”

“Trust me,” Marinette said. “You’re more than fine- I mean… It’s more than fine.”

Marinette blushed and turned away, Adrien’s wet jacket draped over her arm and stomped up the stairs. The light in the kitchen was still on, meaning that her parents were still awake, and as they came into the room, without a doubt, Marinette could clearly hear the words she had been dreading. 

“Marinette, you brought Adrien with you,” Sabine said with a wide smile. “Why don’t you two sit down. We’ll make you something to eat.”


	4. Chapter 4

Adrien sat on the very edge of the sofa, a few feet apart from Marinette, both of them watching Tom and Sabine Dupain-Cheng prepare what, by the looks of the quantity of the food on the table, was an entire meal. The night before he had Nino had just eaten microwave ramen, which, subsequently had also been what they packed for lunch that day. Any other kind of food would have been a welcome change. 

He was tapping his foot nervously on the ground. Sitting in the living room all alone put him in a greater state of unease than he originally thought it would. Marinette was only going to be away a few seconds, so it shouldn’t have been as nerve-wracking as it was. Should he try to make conversation? What should he ask? Would the Dupain Cheng’s appreciate him asking about how their workday went, or would they not want to talk about it since it was so late in the evening and would only make them keenly aware of the fact that they would have to start a fresh day of baking in only a few hours? Maybe Adrien was just reading too much into it.

Though, when Marinette did return, he looked at her like she was his savior. Not just because he was no longer sitting awkwardly alone, but she had brought him a warm mug of hot chocolate. Between the drink and the heater, Adrien was sure now that he would warm up enough before having to make the trek back through the rain to Nino’s place. 

Both Adrien and Marinette smiled and chuckled nervously as she sat down on the couch a few feet away from him. Adrien took a sip from the mug, giving himself a few seconds to think of something to say, but luckily for him, Tom Dupain spoke up. 

“How is the search for a place going Adrien,” Tom said. “Nino’s father mentioned you were staying with them when he came into the bakery the other day.”

“It’s, uh, it’s fine,” Adrien said with a nod. “I still have a few financial things to figure out I guess. I’m not sure exactly where to put my price range yet.”

“Well, we have a guest bedroom, so if the Lahiffe’s get tired of you and you still don’t have a place you’re welcome to stay here,” Tom said with a laugh. 

“Da- Dad-” Marinette stuttered. Adrien turned and looked at Marinette, whose mouth was open but no words were coming out. “I- um, I’m sure you’ll find a place soon. I- We will help you find a place if you need it.”

Adrien smiled. “Thanks, Marinette,” He said. “Everyone’s been so nice. I’m very grateful.”

Adrien glanced around the room, looking at all the pictures in frames of Marinette and her family together. Their smiling faces reminded him of the one happy picture he had with his mother, but that was still stuck in his old room at the Agreste mansion, and Adrien wasn’t too sure when he would be able to get it back. For some reason, Adrien felt happy just being in the company of their family. 

“Thank you,” Adrien said, as Sabine set down a tray of different cookies and crackers with cheese. 

“We should have you over for dinner sometime, Adrien,” Tom said. “I hope you wouldn’t mind if we used you as a guinea pig. Sabine and I are planning to test out a few new things for a lunch menu in the bakery.”   


“I would love that,” Adrien said. He turned to Marinette. “Marinette and I can talk about a day that would work.”   


“You two decide,” Sabine said. “It’ll probably have to be after Fashion Week though. Marinette’s schedule seems like it’s going to be pretty hectic then and we want to make sure she gets plenty of rest during her free time.”

Adrien noticed instantly that Marinette seemed to close off a little and looked down at her hands in her lap. Unconsciously, Adrien raised an eyebrow, trying to decipher why she seemed to draw in so much. He thought that it must have been connected to the reason why she had seemed so distant all day. Almost as if to answer his question, sitting at the edge of the coffee table across from him was a folder with the very distinct and swooping “G” logo printed on the front. 

“Oh, right the internship,” Adrien said, almost under his breath. Marinette looked up at him, letting out a soft “hmm” as she raised an eyebrow. Adrien cleared his throat and put on a smile. “I hope everything goes smoothly for you. Sometimes it can feel like you’re about to be run into the ground.”

“Well, Alya has already said she’ll bring me coffee to school every day that weak,” Marinette said with a small laugh. “I’ll at least be awake enough then.”  
“Coffee will only get you so far,” Adrien said. “Trust me, you need the good stuff.”

“What’s the good stuff?”

Adrien was relieved as he saw Marinette relax a bit and leaned in closer to her with a conspiratory look on his face. “There’s this convenience store on Rue Cremieux that if you ask the guy who runs it for their “caché” he’ll give you this energy drink that was stopped from being sold in France because some guy sued the company. It’s not dangerous or anything, but you’ll be awake for hours.”

“Is it a good idea to mix it with caffeine,” Marinette said, leaning back with a surprised look on her face. 

“I don’t know,” Adrien said. “We’ve never tried it before, but there’s a first time for everything.”

“Seems like a bad idea,” Marinette said, giving a side glance to her parents in the kitchen. “I don’t think they would like it if I was bouncing off the walls all hours of the night because of that.”

“I’ll get you some anyway,” Adrien said. “You’ll thank me when you get to the end of the 

week.”

Adrien’s eyes fell on the folder again. He fought the urge to just reach across the table and open it. Marinette was following his eyes, too. He turned his head and waited for a moment. She smiled and nodded. “They’re mine. You can take a look if you want.”   


“Thank you,” Adrien said, grabbing the folder. Inside was a mini portfolio, only a couple of designs, and Adrien studied each one carefully. He recognized Marinette’s neat handwriting, outlining seams and draping. Next to it, in a more loopy scrawl, were comments on the style and colors and cuts. 

Marinette cleared her throat. “Monsieur Agreste was reviewing some of my designs for me. I was very grateful to get his critique.”

“Are you going to take his advice?” 

Adrien asked the question hoping that she would say no. He liked the designs as they were, and thought that any changes that had been suggested would only succeed in making them more boring. The colors Marinette had chosen might have been bright, but they were cohesive. Adrien knew just by looking at them that this collection wasn’t meant for boring, old fashioned old men. They were meant for someone youthful, vibrant, and confident. All the things he thought Marinette were. 

“I don’t know,” Came Marinette’s answer. “I suppose it is ultimately my decision though, 

and whether or not I even decide to make them.”

“Why wouldn’t you,” Adrien said. “Anyone would be dying to buy something like this. I would be dying to buy something like this.”  
“Well, I don’t exactly have the materials or the money to produce a collection like this at the moment,” Marinette said with a sigh. “I could save up, I guess. I don’t know, I-”

Marinette stopped mid-sentence and glanced over at her parents who were still busying themselves. “I think that if I agree to stay on after Fashion Week I might be able to get permission to use some of the company’s resources to make a few of my designs.”   


“They’re going to keep you on?” Adrien froze. He looked down at the designs again, barely registering what Marinette was saying.

“I mean it’s only been hinted, but Natalie mentioned that Monsieur Agreste would like to

continue working with me in the future,” Marinette said, shrugging her shoulders. “It would be good for me to already have worked so much in the industry by the time I can actually go to university and get a job.”

Adrien bit his lip to keep himself from saying something that he probably shouldn’t. At least, something he shouldn’t say at the moment. He had to tell himself he wasn’t starting to feel frustrated because Marinette was working for his father whom he had a considerably rocky relationship with. That didn’t have anything to with her. Just looking a the few designs she had shown him, Adrien knew just how much Marinette deserved a chance to work for a huge brand and climb her way up the ladder. He just wished it didn’t have to be _ this  _ brand.

“Thank you so much for the food,” Adrien said, standing up. He walked over to where his jacket was hanging by the heater, happy to find it a little bit drier than before. “I should be getting back to Nino’s place. Marinette and I will be sure to pick a date for dinner. I wouldn’t want to miss out on your cooking.”

“You’ll call a cab right, dear,” Sabine said. “We wouldn’t want you walking home in this 

rain.”

“I’ll be sure to get home safely,” Adrien said with a nod. He stepped towards the door, stopping and looked at Marinette. “I can go out this way, right.”

“I’ll walk you out,” Marinette said and slipped her shoes back on. 

Marinette flicked on the lights as they headed down the stairs and to the side door. Adrien whispered a thank you as he stepped out onto the street. He started to pull out his phone and walk off as Marinette shut the door again, but turned sharply on his heel, whipping around to tell her to wait. Marinette noticed his sudden turn and opened the door back up again, waiting for him to speak.

Adrien took a deep breath and spoke at top speed. “Marinette, do you want to get coffee 

with me tomorrow after school?”

“W-what,” Marinette asked, her eyes widening. 

“Let’s get coffee after school tomorrow,” Adrien said. “There’s something I wanted to talk  to you about.” 

Marinette seemed frozen in place and the movement of her head nodding was so small, Adrien almost barely noticed it at all. “Great,” He said and grinned as he let out a huge sigh. “My treat. See you tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” Marinette said. Slowly. She waved goodbye and started to step back inside. 

Quickly she reached for something behind the wall and stepped outside to the very edge of the awning that was keeping her from being soak with rain. “Here. I know you’re not going to call a cab.”

Adrien looked down at the umbrella she was holding out to him. As he reached of it, a clap of thunder came from the sky above, causing both he and Marinette to flinch slightly. They both stood in shock for a moment until a waterfall dropped from the awning that could no longer hold the weight. Marinette jumped back, only getting splashed a little at her feet, but the majority of the water dropped straight down on Adrien, making the time spent letting his jacket dry completely useless.

Maybe not completely useless.

Marinette laughed brightly and loudly, her whole body practically shaking. Adrien let out a frustrated sigh as he stepped back beneath the awning and shook out his wet hair. “I don’t know what good this going to do me now.”

“Take it anyway,” Marinette said. “Get home and don’t catch a cold, okay?”

“Okay,” Adrien said. He looked up, straight into her eyes. She was still laughing a little, 

and Adrien was happy he had walked her home. “Coffee tomorrow.”

“Coffee tomorrow,” Marinette repeated. Adrien opened the umbrella as he stepped out onto the street. He walked a few steps and heard Marinette shout to him. “And, text me when you make it there, okay?”

“Yes, mom,” Adrien yelled, looking over his shoulder. He watched her a few moments more, not looking ahead of himself until she stepped all the way inside and shut the door behind her. Turning his head away, Adrien tensed as he felt a warmth bubble up inside him and make his chest tighten. He couldn’t help but smile and clutched the umbrella Marinette had given him tighter. 


	5. Chapter Five

“Alya please tell why I’m freaking out. I feel like I shouldn’t be freaking out about this so much.”

Marinette paced back and forth across her room, one hand keeping her phone pressed to her ear and the other moving between her mouth to rapidly beating on her chest as she tried to stop herself from biting her nails. Adrien had only left ten minutes, and Marinette had immediately raced up to her room, saying a quick goodnight to her parents as she went, and called Alya. She had picked up on the second try, apologizing because she had just entered her home and didn’t hear her phone buzzing the first time. That was about the only sentence Alya had been able to get out before Marinette had begun ranting. 

“I don’t know why you’re freaking out either, girl,” Alya said. “I thought you were over 

Adrien. Your emotional whiplash has been confusing me. First you hated him because of the whole gum thing and didn’t talk to him for a week until I forced to stay while he apologized, then you were madly in love with him for like a year, and then you went on your whole “independent woman trying to make a name for herself so I don’t have time for boys” tirade. Am I missing anything?”

“Well… no,” Marinette said with a frown.

“Then explain to me why this is such a big deal.”

“He asked me to coffee, Alya,” Marinette said. “COFFEE. That is a date thing.”

“You and I go for coffee all the time,” Alya pointed out.

“Yes, but you and I are best friends,” Marinette said. “Adrien and I aren’t that close, and 

we’ve never hung out just the two of us before.”

“What about the time he came over to your house and played video games?”

“It was to practice for the school’s tournament,” Marinette said. “It wasn’t because we just wanted to hang out together.”

“You want to know what I think? Adrien just separated from his family and probably wants to get closer with his friends,” Alya said. “You should go and be a supportive friend. You’re really good at that.”

Marinette laughed. Adrien was sweet and had always been a good friend to everyone else when they needed someone. “You’re right. I’ll stop freaking out now.”

“Good,” Alya said. “Then I’m going to sleep. I’m up way to late for a school night.”

“Should have thought about that before you dragged us all out with you.”

“Should have thought about that before you dragged us all out with you,” Alya repeated in a mocking voice. “Goodnight. Love ya.”

“Love you, too,” Marinette said, and lowered the phone as she hung up. 

Falling back on her chaise, Marinette let out a deep sigh. “This is going to be fine.”

\------------

Marinette stood on the front steps outside of their lycee. She craned her neck, scanning through the crowd of students filing out of the building. She hadn’t seen Adrien at all this morning. Their Friday schedules were completely different from each others, and she hadn’t even seen him when she arrived this morning. Still, he had sent her a text saying to meet him out on the front steps, so here she was, waiting. People who were in her classes said hello as they passed by her, but she half-heartedly answered them, but didn’t turn her head to look at them. 

Just as she was leaning upon her tip-toes, Marinette received a tap on her shoulder that caused her to jolt and whip around. Adrien jumped just narrowly avoiding be hit in the stomach by her purse. He laughed, though there seemed to be a hint of nervousness behind it. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have startled you like that.”

“No, my bad. I should keep better hold of my things.” Marinette said, tucking her purse behind her back and pulling the strap down. “Shall we?”

Adrien nodded and motioned for them to head down the steps. “There’s a place a few blocks from here I thought we’d go to.”

“Sounds good,” Marinette said. 

The walk wasn’t as long as Marinette had suspected, and more than that it was pretty enjoyable. The day had actually been pretty warm, surprising since they were moving further and further in fall. The soft breeze felt nice, and it had ended up being a blessing that Marinette had worn a thin button up shirt and skirt rather than pants and a sweater. Adrien seemed to enjoying himself too. Marinette noticed that his eyes seemed to dart around a lot, taking in everything there was to see, and he’d slow down a little if they were walking through a patch of sun. She smiled watching him. It was like seeing a house cat getting sneaking out for the first time in their life. 

Adrien was the perfect gentleman holding the door open for her when they reached the cafe. When they ordered, Adrien offered to pay for her but Marinette refused and stubbornly dug her heels in when he protested. By the time they sat down together, Marinette wasn’t even nervously bouncing her leg or drumming her fingers on the table. She thanked Adrien as he set her cup of coffee down in front of her when it was ready. He took the seat across from her and they drank silently for a few moments. 

“So, is there anything-” Marinette started to say, but Adrien began speaking at almost the exact same time.

“Marinette, there’s something I wanted to ask you.”

Marinette sputtered and frowned after a moment. “Uh, okay. What did you want to ask me?”

“Look, I-” Adrien started to say, but stopped after a moment. Marinette watched as his whole demeanor shifted in a moment. His expression turned stiff, his back straightened, shoulders dropped. In a moment, he went from soft, smiling Adrien to a completely no-nonsense person. “I have a proposition for you.”

“Ohh, a proposition,” Marinette repeated with a laugh as she raised the coffee cup to her lips. 

“Marinette, I want you to come work with me,” Adrien said. 

Marinette’s hands still just as the cup reached her lips. She looked at him over the edge of the cup and lowered it back down to the table as she waited for him to continue, to clarify. “Like on a school project right?”

“No, I mean like for a job,” Adrien said. 

Marinette let out a single, sharp laugh before going completely still and quiet again. “Oh my god, you’re serious.”

“Yes, of course, I’m being serious,” Adrien said and a small smile peeked through on his lips. “I’ve got someone backing me with the money, and I’ve been watching Gabriel, and well mostly Natalie actually, run a business for years, but I need you.”   


“Me. Me,” Marinette asked. “Why me?”

“I’m not the creative type, but last night, I saw your designs. They’re incredible,” Adrien said. “I need you be in charge of all creative decisions. I would do literally everything else-”

“Okay, I’m sorry,” Marinette said holding up her hand. “You want to start a  _ fashion  _ company.”

“Yeah.”

Marinette pointed at herself. “And, I-”

“Yes.”   


“With you?”

“Yup.”

Marinette leaned back in her seat, crossing her arms across her chest. “Why do think this is a good idea?”

“There’s- Look, there’s a lot of reasons why this is a good idea-”

“Really,” Marinette said. “Give me six reasons. Six reasons or else I’m not going to even think about considering the possibility of even thinking about giving this crazy idea a chance.” 

“Oh,” Adrien said and turned around reaching for his backpack. Digging around for a moment, he pulled out a folder and set it down on the table between them. “Here.” 

Marinette picked it up and opened to the first document that was inside. It as a payroll list and Marinette closed it completely, knowing already what was inside due to the familiar logo printed at the top of the page. “This is your reason? You’ll be in direct competition with them, you know? Gabriel Agreste will crush anyone to try compete with him. You’ll never even get up off the ground.”

“You know as well as I do what kind of business he runs,” Adrien said. “Is it really okay-”

“Of course none of it’s okay,” Marinette said. “How do you expect to do better than anyone else- Or- let me rephrase that- how do you expect to do better than anyone and still turn a profit?”  
Adrien drummed his fingers on the table, staring off a little way into the distance. Marinette noticed the way the corners of his mouth twitched. She suspected it was annoyance, directed at her mostly. His face softened after a moment though, and Adrien met her eyes with a determination that said he wasn’t going to back down no matter what her opinion was. 

“I’m not going to pretend that there isn’t some kind of grudge involved with this. Yes, I want to start this business because I know that some of the ways my father runs his do not make me proud to be his son,” Adrien said. “I want to run something where all my employees get paid a living wage, the fabric used isn’t harming the environment, and the clothes don’t get tossed out after a year because they fall apart so easily.” 

“That’s pretty ambitious,” Marinette said. 

“Which is why I want you to work with me,” Adrien said. “Not for me, mind you. Equal partners.”

Marinette picked up her spoon and twirled it around in her cup, watching the whirlpool that formed. She pretended the action was to give her time to think, but really her mind was blank. Did they really expect this to be easy? Adrien actually probably didn’t, but he was being too cool at the moment and it was almost impossible to tell if he was worried or not. Starting a business before she even graduated sounded stressful, and tiring, and almost absolutely insane. 

“Can you give me some time to think about it,” Marinette said. 

“Of course,” Adrien responded almost immediately. “I wasn’t expecting an answer right now anyway.” 

Marinette nodded and dropped the spoon from her hand. After a moment, she threw her bag over her shoulder and stood up from the table. “Thanks for the drink. I have to, uh-”

“Get to your internship,” Adrien finished for her. “That’s fine. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“Yeah,” Marinette said nodding and turned to walk out the door. She stopped for a moment and turned back to Adrien, who looked up at her expectantly. “Uh, for what it’s worth, I think your heart is in the right place in this. Even if your brain might have been misplaced.”

Adrien laughed and nodded. “You’re probably right. I promise to find it by the time you get back to me with your answer.” 

With a smile, Marinette walked away from the table completely and back out onto the street. She let out a deep breath as she exited the cafe. Marinette was sure she was going to tell him no, but she’d take the time before she really did give her answer. Adrien was clearly sincere, no matter how crazy it sounded to her ears. Her courtesy was all she could could offer him. Shaking her head, she pushed all thoughts of their conversation out of her mind and headed off to work. For now, and through the end of Fashion Week, it would be the only thing she would focus on. 


	6. Chapter 6

Marinette rubbed the back of her neck with her as she tried to get herself to focus on the task at hand. Though she had promised herself to take everything one step at a time, her mind was not on the worksheet in front of her, or even inside the classroom. She had left the night before at the venue for the runway show, and it was now stuck there, wondering whether or not she had hung the pieces that had arrived last night in the correct order. 

There were just two more days and then everything would be done. Her internship ended as soon as the show was over and then Marinette swore to herself that she would sleep for three days straight. With a little bit of luck, she would survive. 

Alya seemed to notice Marinette’s eyes drooping shut and her head tilting down, barely being supported by the hand she had propped up on the desk. She slid her friend a protein bar, which Marinette readily accepted and snuck bites of when their teacher wasn’t looking. Alya had been supplying her with food all week when she needed it, and Nino had sent her a calming playlist, one for each day of the week. It was great to have someone at least trying to make sure she was eating and not getting overly stressed. Marinette was too busy thinking about seating charts to remember. 

As soon as the bell rang, she stuffed everything in her bag. There was a train she needed to catch at the metro in order to make it on time, and the only way she could catch it was by running full speed. Alya grabbed her arm as she was about to get up out of her chair. She stuffed a few more snacks into Marinette’s bag.

“You better eat all of these,” Alya said. “I’m bringing you coffee tomorrow.” 

“You don’t have to-”

“I’m bringing you coffee,” Alya said earnestly. “You’ll thank me later.” 

Marinette pressed a quick kiss on her friend’s cheek before leaving the classroom. When she reached the front steps, Marinette sighed as she heard someone calling her name. Adrien was rushing to meet her. She waited, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet and glancing at the time on her phone. Waiting, she grabbed her metro card out of her purse, so she could just run through in case she really was about to miss the train.

“I promise this will be quick,” Adrien said. He held out a plastic shopping bag towards her and smiled. Marinette took it and peeked inside, seeing a few cans of an energy drink. “It’s the energy drink I told you about. I won’t divulge where exactly I got them, that’s a model’s secret, but I thought they might help you get through the next two days.”

Marinette took one of the cans out of the bag and looked at the nutrition facts on the back. She laughed as she read it. “Just one of these is enough to keep me awake for three days straight.”

“Then it’ll be enough to give you at least an hour of energy at the pace you’re moving,” Adrien said. “Just… Good luck. I know it can be difficult in that environment.”

Marinette knew that “difficult” was an understatement, and was sure Adrien knew that as well. 

“Thank you,” She said. The bag dangled from her fingertips as she stood there, both of them looking at each other in silence, each with an awkward smile on their faces. 

Marinette hadn’t spoken to Adrien, just of the two of them, since they had gone to the cafe together. It seemed as though Adrien was trying to give her space, giving her time to make a decision while not seeming like he was pressuring her. Things had gone from normal back to uneasy between them on that day. Marinette desperately wanted to return to the blissful twenty-four-hour period where it seemed like they were going to be close friends. Now, they had two days until they could see whether or not things would go back to normal again, because Marinette was determined not to give him an answer until then. 

Her phone buzzed in her hand, and Marinette’s eyes widen as she looked down and saw the time on the lit-up screen. “Oh, crap,” Marinette said, sliding her phone into her purse. “I’m sorry, I have to run. I’m going to miss my train at this rate.”  
“Go,” Adrien said, nodding his head. “Let me know if you like those. I’ll get you some more.”

“Thank you,” Marinette said. She ran down the remaining steps and was at the street corner when she felt someone tapping on her shoulder. She spun around and was startled to find Adrien standing right next to her.

“Here, you dropped this,” Adrien said. Marinette looked down at his hand to see him holding her metro card. Marinette stuttered as he shoved it back into her hands and grabbed onto her shoulders, spinning her around so she was facing the street completely again. “The light’s changed.”

Coming back to her sense, Marinette stepped off of the sidewalk and started sprinting across the crosswalk. About halfway across, she turned back to see Adrien still standing on the corner, and shouted back to him. “Thank you!”

He waved and shoved his hands into his pockets as he turned on his heel and started walking in the opposite direction. Marinette craned her neck to look behind her as she walked. She kept him in her sights, a mistake, as she tripped over the curb and almost fell to the ground. She steadied herself, and huffed, blowing part of her bangs out of her eyes. “Stupid. Why would you feel like you needed to look back at him?”

\-------------------

Finishing up the lighting for the show was currently on the agenda, which meant Marinette had no clue exactly what time she would be getting to go home that night. They hadn’t even started the dress rehearsal yet, which is what she was currently preparing for. She was double-checking garment bags to make sure they had the correct accessories inside. It wasn’t as bad as some of the tasks other interns or low ranking staffers had been given, so she counted herself lucky. 

Marinette stiffened and tried to stand up as straight as she could as she saw Natalie coming her way. She barely looked up from her tablet as she spoke, and Marinette might as well have been nothing but thin air from the way she was ignoring her. “Mr. Agreste would like you to come and find him on the stage when you finish with this.”

“Yes,” Marinette said. She turned back to her work, moving more quickly now. She could still feel Natalie standing there behind her, and, surprisingly, she was looking up at her. “Did you need anything else?”

“Have you had a break yet today,” Natalie asked. Marinette shook her head. “Okay, take fifteen minutes after you meet with Mr. Agreste. I’ll have you shadow me after that.”

“Thank you,” Marinette said. Natalie left without another word. 

After going through the last couple of bags quickly, Marinette speed-walked out to the runway. It wasn’t difficult to find Gabriel Agreste, as he was standing in the middle of the room with a dresser and one of the models. His voice was loud, though controlled, which made it almost more terrifying. You didn’t want to be the person receiving a lecture from someone with a tone of voice like that. Marinette stood off to the side with her hands folded neatly behind her back. She made sure she was in his line of sight, but there was no way she was going to interrupt him. 

“Do you understand what’s wrong with this,” Gabriel said. Marinette could see the dresser practically shaking. She was clutching her guide in her hands and the model was looking down at the floor. Gabriel noticed her and ripped the guide out of the dresser’s hands, passing it along to Marinette. “Miss Dupain Cheng, would you mind pointing out what’s wrong with this look?”

Marinette looked back and forth from the guide to the suit on the model. The differences between the picture and the person in front of here weren’t that noticeable, and it took her a moment to spot what Gabriel Agreste’s trained eye had probably noticed immediately. Part of Marinette wanted to say that there was nothing wrong, and maybe save the dresser from getting a further lecture, but she knew she would probably just end up getting yelled at as well. There was no way to save the dresser. She would only be jumping in front of the bus as well. 

“The waistline seam where the peplum begins is two inches higher than it is supposed to be. A model with a longer torso is needed for this look to have the correct fit with this sizing. The broach chain is supposed to sit on top of the shoulder in the style of an epaulet. Not above the heart on the chest. The shoes are supposed to be the olive green suade heels. These heels are dark green,” Marinette said quickly. When she was finished, she handed the style guide back to the dresser with an empathetic smile. These were all things that could be fixed quickly with a second glance, and since they still had time before the dress rehearsal even started.

“Correct, on all accounts,” Gabriel said. “Marina, you’re dismissed go get changed into your other piece. Cecile, you’re fired. Pack up your things and leave the premises.”

Marinette, the model, and the dresser all stood in silent shock, but Gabriel clearly wasn’t done giving orders. “Miss Dupain Cheng, please find another person to model the piece. Make sure you dress them correctly.”

“Yes, Mr. Agreste,” Marinette said, though he probably hadn’t heard her speak as he started walking away as soon as he finished his sentence. The dresser’s eyes lowered to the floor as she passed the style guide back to Marinette. “Cecile, I’m so sorry.”

“No, you did exactly what you were supposed to,” Cecile said. “It’s better that only one of us is the target for his wrath.”

Cecile stormed off the runway and headed backstage. Marina whistled, her eyes glancing around awkwardly. “Well, that’s a supervillain origin story if I’ve ever seen one.”

“Lucky for us we don’t live in that kind of world,” Marinette said. She tucked the style guide under her arm and headed backstage with Marina. Both of them went off to one of the changing corners, which is where Marinette had stuck her purse earlier. With a sigh, she reached into the shopping bag Adrien had given her and pulled out one of the drinks. She took one sip, and frowned as she swallowed it. “Holy crap, that’s a lot of sugar!”

Marina looked up after her sudden outburst. “Ahh, I see you’ve got some of the liquid gold.”

“A friend shared them with me,” Marinette said, and once again frowned as she took another sip. “I’m not sure I like them.”

“None of us do,” Marina said. “But, we don’t drink them because they taste good.”   


“We drink them to stay alive.”

“Exactly.”   


Marinette watched as Marina slipped off the suit and grabbed another garment bag. She looked down at the style sheet again and sighed. “They should have just made the jacket a different size. I think you look the best in it anyway.”

“I’m not that big a fan of this look anyway,” Marina said shrugging. “I’d never wear it in real life. Making sure the jacket size was different wouldn’t have saved Cecile though. I guess that’s just another ordinary day around here.”

Marinette shook her head. Just another day should not have to mean that someone had lost their job, especially not over something that could have been easily remedied. She grabbed her papers and tossed the half drank can in the trash. Just before she left, Marinette reached down into the shopping bag and pulled it out of the bag, setting it down in front of Marina. “Here,” She said with a smile. “To get you through the rest of the night.”

“Thank you, petite poussin,” Marina said. “I’ll return the favor at some point.”

Marina ruffled Marinette’s hair as she passed by and headed out of the dressing room. Marinette only paused for a moment to take another sip of the god awful energy drink before gathering her things and heading out to finish up work for the night. 

\------------

The last day before the fashion show went exactly as expected. Things were stressful, some people were crying, Marinette had definitely cried, but she had saved it until she was safe in her room at home. Currently, she was holed up in a corner with a dinner her mother had packed for her. There was a nice note attached to the inside of the container that had managed to make her smile a little, but she was too tired to really even have emotions at this point. 

Marinette didn’t even really move until she heard yelling from the main part of the dressing area. At first, it just sound like someone was laughing, but when it didn’t stop, she grew a little more curious and packed her things away. Standing to her feet, Marinette peeked out from behind the curtain she had been sitting behind and observed the scene before her. 

Gabriel Agreste was standing in the middle of the room with an irate look on his face and a passive Natalie standing by his side. Whoever he was berating was hunched over, their head in their hands. The zipper on the side of their dress was only halfway done, exposing the model’s skin on their side. Marinette resisted the urge to go and offer them her jacket. She did not want to get in the middle of whatever was going on. 

“You think we have time to make alterations this significant,” Gabriel said in a harsh voice. “It would be one thing if you had lost the weight instead of gaining it.”

“I’m sorry,” The model said, trying to hide their sobs. Marinette’s eyes widened as she realized that it was Marina who was crying. “I wasn’t given any of the right sizing for any of my pieces. I promise I didn’t mean to-”

“Your apologies don’t matter,” Gabriel said holding up his hand. “Either you figure out how to make the dress fit in the next two minutes, or you leave immediately and I might consider not having you blacklisted.”  
Marina’s voice stilled. Her expression changed almost immediately, going from one of complete despair to a hopeless look. She bowed her head even further and nodded. “I understand.”

Marinette couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Marina just turned on her heel and walked away, completely silent. She walked past where Marinette was still keeping herself partially hidden by the curtain, and after a few moments, after everyone had stopped looking and were going back about their business, she snuck out and followed Marina to one of the farthest corners of the room. Facing the back wall, Marina struggled to undo the halfway done zipper, but Marinette could hear her sniffling. 

“Can I help,” Marinette said sheepishly. 

Marina turned around and quickly wiped the tears from her cheeks. “Ah, poussin,” She said with a breathy laugh. “Don’t sneak up on me like that.”

She hadn’t answered her question, but Marinette stepped up anyway and finished undoing the zipper. Maria slipped off the silky dress and pulled on her regular clothes, pulling the pins out of her already done hair and tossing it up into a bun. 

“Thank you,” Marina said. 

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” Marina whispered, shaking her head. “I wouldn’t wish anyone to come to my defense in that situation.”   


“But, it’s not your fault either,” Marinette said. “They gave you the wrong sizes. Mr. Agreste should understand that-”

“Mr. Agreste doesn’t care,” Marina said. “I know he’s your mentor, and I’m very happy that you’re getting all of these amazing opportunities, but Gabriel Agreste is still a bastard. Not going up against him is a wise decision, and I’ve avoided being blacklisted so I can still get another job.”

Marina zipped up her jacket and headed towards the back door. She stopped as she placed her hand on the handle and looked back around at Marinette. Marinette hadn’t been expecting Marina to walk back towards her, and she hadn’t been expecting her to pull her into a tight hug. “Just keep your head down now and work hard, because one day you’re going to run this town and kick out everyone who never deserved to be here in the first place, and, personally, I can’t wait to see it.”

Marina kissed Marinette on the top of her head and left without another word. Marinette had to stand there for a moment, and force herself to collect her thoughts. Otherwise, she might have just dissolved into a puddle right then and there. With a deep sigh and shaking hands, Marinette went back to her corner and picked up her clipboard. She rubbed her cheeks and smacked them a little, trying to wake herself up, and with a confidence, she could only halfway pretend, Marinette walked towards the door to the stage with her head held high.

“Alright, everyone! Line up in front of me for final checks!”

\-------------------

Marinette wanted nothing more than collapse into bed the minute the show was over, and she had expected to do so, but Natalie insisted that she come back to the Agreste mansion for a small get together at Mr. Agreste’s insistence. It wasn’t that she hadn’t tried to get out of it, but after two sentences of protestations, she was almost too tired to even argue at all. 

She immediately felt uneasy as soon as she walked in. The high ceilings were imposing and dark, and the marble floors felt cold even through the soles of her shoes. Marinette had only ever been inside once before, during the one day when Adrien had been allowed to have his friends over for a movie night. Other than that, she had never stepped foot inside the house before. 

Other guests were filing inside along with her and were headed into the parlor. Marinette watched them through the open double doors, but the thought of going inside and making small talk with the rest of them made her sick. Heading over to Natalie’s desk, Marinette sat down in the chair and rolled it backward until she was pressed against the wall and hidden from view by a large house plant. She propped her head up with her hands and closed her eyes for a moment. 

Next to her, someone cleared their throat. Marinette’s eyes popped opened and she jolted up straight in her chair. Natalie was standing next to her. “Mr. Agreste would like you to head in and talk to some of the other designers.”

“Right,” Marinette said with a heavy sigh. She pulled herself up and out of the chair, shaking her head at the dizziness. “Can I go wash my face first?”

“There’s a bathroom on the second floor,” Natalie said, already looking at her computer. 

Marinette walked out from behind the desk silently and headed up the stairs. Natalie hadn’t exactly been specific with her directions, but luckily, Marinette did know where one bathroom was in the house. Once she made it to the second floor, Marinette opened the door to Adrien’s room and stepped inside. Everything was exactly the same as the last time she had seen it. Dust was beginning to cover the furniture and shelves, but everything was put away neatly and the bed was made like it was waiting for someone to crawl into it. Marinette didn’t like the look of the place, devoid of the one thing that gave it life. It almost felt as though Adrien’s things were being held hostage in here.

One thing caught her in the corner of the room. Set on the desk, but slightly turned around, was the only framed photograph in the room. Marinette walked over and turned it around. The picture of a young Adrien made her smile, but the woman next to him had to be the most beautiful person she had ever seen. Adrien’s mother had no competition, no one who could hold a candle to her. 

Looking around at everything in the room, she wished she could pack it all up and take it with her, give Adrien a hint of his childhood again, but she knew she couldn’t fit an entire room of things into her purse. However, there was one thing she could take with her, and the photograph just happened to fit perfectly inside her bag. 

As Marinette turned to leave, she was startled by a figure standing in the doorway. Gabriel stepped into the light, his hands folded behind his back. 

“What are you doing in here,” Gabriel said. 

“Sorry, I didn’t know where to find a bathroom and this was the only room I was sure had one,” Marinette said, the excuse being absolutely true. “I’ll be going now.”

“Miss Dupain Cheng,” Gabriel said, stopping Marinette in her tracks. “I wanted to speak with you. You know we’ve been considering extending your internship again-”

“Mr. Agreste, I’m sorry,” Marinette said. She let out a shaky breath, hardly believing that she had just interrupted him. “I have to decline. My… My parents want me to focus on school for now. They’re afraid my grades are going to slip if I’m too busy. I’m thankful for the offer though.”   


Marinette didn’t look at Gabriel, her eyes instead focused on the floor. She stepped past him and headed towards the door.

“How is my son,” Gabriel said. “You see him at school, correct?”

Marinette remained silent.

“He’s doing well?”

“I’m not sure I should be discussing that with you,” Marinette said.

“He’s my son,” Gabriel said. “I have a right to know about his well being.”

“Mr. Agreste, I don’t think I should discuss my personal relationships,” Marinette said. “A successful person should keep their professional and private life separate, and I think that’s a rule you invented. Is it not?”

Marinette turned and faced him completely. She put a smile on her face. “Thank you so much for giving me the internship. It was an incredible opportunity.”  
She didn’t wait for a response as she rushed out the door, down the stairs and outside. Her jacket was a little too thin for the time of night, and she was so tired she felt like she was going to collapse, but she didn’t stop jogging until she was past the gates. Keeping her pace quick, Marinette headed down the streets of Paris. She could see her breath in front of her and her feet ached after only a few minutes, but she didn’t stop moving

She didn’t stop moving until she was in front of Nino’s apartment door. Marinette knocked sharply and waited for a few moments, bouncing on the balls of her feet. She stilled as the door opened, revealing the exactly golden blond shade of hair she wanted to see.

“Marinette?”

“Hi,” Marinette said, smiling brightly. “Can I come in?”


	7. Chapter Seven

It took Adrien a moment before he came back to his senses and stepped back, opening the door wider so Marinette could step inside. The sight of her shouldn’t have been something so paralyzing, but her unexpected arrival, and that fact that he would admit that she had been on his mind almost constantly the past week, was enough to send him into a spiraling and bewildered state. Adrien was silent as he followed Marinette into the living room of Nino’s apartment, where Nino and his younger brother were playing video games on the couch. 

Nino looked up and paused the game upon Marinette’s entrance, getting up from the couch. “Nette, what are you doing here? It’s super late,” Nino said as he grabbed her by the arm and guided her to the couch, forcing her to sit down. “God, you look exhausted.”

“Sorry to just show up like this,” Marinette said.

“No, no it’s fine,” Nino said. “Do you want anything to drink? Eat?”

“Some water would be great actually,” Marinette said, forcing a small smile on her face. “I promise I won’t stay long. I was just walking home and I needed a break.”

“You were walking home by yourself,” Adrien said, surprised with himself even as the words spilled out of his mouth. “At this hour?”

“It’s no big deal,” Marinette said waving her hand. “Alya’s set to get updates about my location every so often. Besides I’d rather be walking down a well-lit street than stuck in a car with a total stranger.” 

Nino came back into the room with a glass of water in hand and kicked his younger brother’s leg, trying to push him off the couch. “Get up. Time to go to bed,” Nino said. “You’re up to late anyway.”

“But the three of you are going to stay awake longer,” Chris said, pouting. 

“Yes, but we’re idiots who should be going to bed anyway,” Nino said. “Besides if you don’t go to bed, I won’t make chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast tomorrow.”

Chris got up off the couch finally and sulked down the hall. “Your threats are getting old.”

“Then why do they still work,” Nino said as Chris slammed his bedroom door. “Goodnight!”

Adrien settled on the floor, leaning his back against the coffee table. He kept his head straight, facing the opposite wall, but peeked out of the corner of his eyes at Marinette as she gulped down the glass of water. He wondered why she would show up here, so late at night, and seemed so out of breath when he had opened the door. 

Marinette set the glass down the coffee table in front of her. Leaning forward, she rested her head in her hands and propped her elbows up on her knees. Her eyes were cast down at the floor for a moment, but when she looked up, Adrien’s eyes locked with hers. He realized that he had been staring at her intently this entire time, and while he didn’t exactly hate the fact that he had, the thought still made him flush with embarrassment. 

“So,” Nino said, leaning his head against the back of the couch. “Are you going to sleep all day tomorrow or can Adrien, Alya, and I come over and bring a movie?”

“I wouldn’t mind,” Marinette said with a smile. It took her a second but she broke eye contact with Adrien after a moment, bringing her attention to Nino. Adrien forced himself to turn his head away from her and towards the opposite wall. “As long as it’s later in the afternoon. I don’t think I’ll be cognizant in the morning.”

“Fair enough,” Nino said. “Alya’s going to be so happy that you’re not busy anymore. I think she’s been planning all the different places she’s going to drag us to now that you’re not working… Unless you got an offer again?”

“Um, I did,” Marinette said, and Adrien swore he almost had whiplash snapping his head back in her direction. If Marinette noticed the sudden movement she didn’t say. “I’ve washed my hands of the Agreste brand for now.”

Nino sighed in relief. “Whew, well, I’m happy to hear that. I’ve been trying to keep it to myself, but Gabriel Agreste fucking sucks.”

“Yeah, uh, he’s- he’s the worst,” Marinette said with a soft chuckle. 

“Yeah,” Adrien responded absentmindedly. Nino and Marinette looked at him awkwardly as Adrien sunk down and rested his head on his knees. 

Marinette cleared her throat and stood up from her seat, pulling down the bottom of her skirt. “Thanks for the pit stop. I’m going to head the rest of the way home now.”

“You sure,” Nino said. “You can totally crash here.”

“No, it’s alright,” Marinette said. “I kind of want to sleep in my own bed.”

Marinette slung her purse over her shoulder and headed towards the door. Almost as if he were snapping out of a daydream, Adrien hopped to his feet and rushed to catch up with her before she was out in the hallway. 

“I”m walking you home,” Adrien said. 

Marinette froze and waved her hands frantically. “No- no it’s okay. I- uh, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Just let him do it,” Nino hollered from the living room. “It’ll make him feel better.”

“Okay,” Marinette said, smiling nervously. 

Adrien grabbed his coat from a hook off the wall and opened the front door. He called back to Nino. “Be back in a bit.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Nino shouted, just his hand visible from behind the wall, waving him off. 

As soon as Adrien and Marinette stepped out onto the cold street, they both wrapped their jackets tighter around themselves and headed off in the direction of the bakery. Adrien always felt he could manage to breathe more steadily when he could actually see his breath, and it was helpful now that Marinette was standing right by his side and they were still ignoring the elephant in front of them. He didn’t know how to bring it up, or perhaps, even now, she was still deciding. Perhaps that’s why she had said she would see him tomorrow, to give her a little more time to decide. 

“I think you’re right you know,” Marinette said. Adrien looked at her with a raised eyebrow, prompting her to continue. “There are some things wrong with it all, and I wish it wasn’t one of the things where “it’s just the way that it is” is all you can say. Sometimes it feels like that when the ones with all the money and power are the ones making the decisions.” 

“Well, I don’t know about the power,” Adrien said. “But, I  _ certainly _ have the money. Taken straight from the wallet of Gabriel Agreste with legal action.”

Marinette laughed. “Yeah, nice bragging there.”

Adrien laughed, too, but after a moment, his face fell back to a blank expression as his eyes drifted towards the ground. “So, you don’t think you can change anything?”

“No,” Marinette said. “I never thought I could.”

Nodding his head solemnly, Adrien accepted her words. He shoved his hands in his pockets. 

“I never said I wasn’t going to say no to you though,” Marinette said. 

Her words sparked something in him, and slowly his eyes drifted to her. There was still a sense of disbelief, as though maybe Marinette hadn’t spoken at all, his brain was only telling him what he wanted to hear, but Marinette was looking at him, too.

“What?”

“I’m saying yes,” Marinette said. “I might not believe I can change anything, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a reason not to try.”  
Adrien blinked slowly and shook his head. “You’re saying yes?”

“Yes,” Marinette said, laughing. “Are you okay? What, did you think I was going to say no?”

“Kind of.”

“I did, too.”

Adrien stopped walking as they reached the street corner. He kept an eye on the light from the corner of his eye, but looked at Marinette, who seemed all the sudden very distant. “Did something happen to change your mind?”

Adrien didn’t really want to think of the reasons why she might have changed her mind, but his mind was racing with them. Scenarios ranging from “slightly alright” to “very bad” were jumping around in his head. Adrien waved his hand as if to try and get rid of them.

“Uh, nothing really important,” Marinette said, but it did nothing to quell his worries. 

“Well, how about we discuss your employment benefits tomorrow, Miss Dupain Cheng,” Adrien said, trying to pull a sense of humor from somewhere to clear the air.

“Sorry, but I think our schedules might be fully booked,” Marinette said shrugging. “I believe Nino and Alya are going to force us to watch a bad horror movie with them.” 

“Ah, you’re right,” Adrien said. “Be sure to leave an appointment slot for me Monday afternoon then.”

“Of course, Mr. Agreste,” Marinette said. She giggled for a moment at the continued joke, but Adrien noticed the exact second when she stopped and the realization passed over her face. Marinette’s looked like they had almost glazed over, and when Adrien noticed the light had changed, he pulled one of his hands out of his pocket and grabbed onto her wrist, leading her across the street with him. 

Adrien let go when they were safely on the other side, and waited for a moment as Marinette returned to her sense.

“We’ll make using first names a company policy,” Adrien said. They said nothing else as they walked the rest of the way to the bakery. Marinette let out a sigh of relief as they made it to the side door, and couldn’t help but feel a little lighter himself. 

“Thank you for walking me home,” Marinette said. “I actually enjoyed having some company.”

“No problem,” Adrien said. “Who would I be if I left you to walk home in the dark by yourself?”

“Most certainly not Adrien Agreste: Perfect Gentleman,” Marinette said smiling brightly. Marinette unlocked the side door and stepped halfway inside. “See you tomorrow. Inevitably.” 

“Looking forward to it.”  
Adrien waited until he saw a light turn on upstairs before he left. He smiled, thinking about how it was only a little over a week ago that he brought her home the first time. Certainly the act of a perfect gentleman, and he sort of liked the way it made him look in her eyes. 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this two days late oops

Marinette was keeping forward during class like always, but the blond locks in front of her filled and distracted her vision. They’d done this before, during that casual crush that Marinette once held for Adrien after she had gotten of The Gum Incident in college, but before Marinette had never had to rub her eyes or shake her head to get herself back on track. Since yesterday, she had been trying to come up with a reason why he distracted her when his attention wasn’t solely given to her.

During their movie night with Alya and Nino last night, Marinette was perfectly fine. She talked to him without stuttering, looked him straight in the eye. The only explanation she could come up with was that she was that when he actually was paying attention to her it became less obvious that Adrien occupied her thoughts the majority of the time anyway. 

The bell ringing was a much-needed reprieve, and Marinette took her time packing up her bag, not feeling the stress to be somewhere or do something for someone. And, while she did have an “appointment,” it was that only in name because the person asking for her time would let her take it back as she needed it. 

When they met out on the front steps for the second time, Marinette was surprised that Adrien started leading her in the opposite direction of the cafe. 

“Where are we headed,” Marinette asked, trying her best to keep in stride with him. 

“As my partner, there’s a business decision I need to sign off on before any final decisions are made,” Adrien said. “It’s a cool thing. Trust me.”

Marinette was confused but smiled as she followed along. Adrien remained silent and kept walking with seemingly no actual destination in mind. His chin was tilted up towards the sky, almost like he was basking in the sun like a cat. 

Adrien stopped on a street Marinette had never been before. She looked around, confused. The block was nice enough, housing buildings with an old, yet pretty style of architecture. 

“So, what are we doing here,” Marinette asked, crossing her arms over her chest. 

Adrien grabbed onto her shoulders and turned her so she was facing away from the street. Marinette’s eyes met with a light blue painted facade and a red door that stood out at the top of a few steps. “I thinking about buying this building,” Adrien said. As soon as he finished his sentence, Adrien stepped around Marinette and headed up the steps. Marinette stood flabbergasted, mouth hanging open. Just as he reached for the door handle, Adrien turned back around and called back to her. “Well, come on.”   


Marinette shook herself out of her stupor and followed him. When Adrien had unlocked the door and gestured for her to step inside, Marinette just about lost her ability to breathe. She was right, all the buildings on this street were old, but every little detail of the place made it beautiful and surreal beyond her wildest dreams. The groud floor was a large open space with stairs at the back of the room leading up to a balcony that wrapped all the way around. Marinette thought she could see another set of stairs up there as well, but couldn’t see where they led to. 

“Welcome to our new offices,” Adrien said, “Well, maybe. I needed your approval first before I signed any papers.” 

Marinette stepped farther into the room, looking up to the high ceilings. Adrien rushed passed her, gesturing widely about the room, but her eyes couldn’t follow him, still moving slowly around the space in awe. 

“So, we’d have the atelier on the ground floor, offices upstairs. It’ll be hard to get desks up the stairs, but I’ll make Nino help. I’ve already got a lead on some discounted supplies for production. Of course, we’re going to have to start small since we’ll be making everything in-house. Maybe just one small line, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still gain a lot of traction. I mean, just look at that damn strawberry dress. The company that makes it only has the one collection,” Adrien said, rambling on. He stopped all at once, calming down again. He stepped up to Marinette, a pleading look in his eyes. “So, do you like it?”

Marinette dragged her attention to him. Slowly she nodded. “Yes,” She said. “Yes, buy it. Sign the papers now.”

“Really,” Adrien asked, excitement dripping from his voice. “Great!”   


Adrien held up his hand and Marinette high fived him, both of them beaming from the excitement of making their first business decision together. Though, Marinette hadn’t been expecting him to hold onto her hand. His fingers wrapped around her own, holding her gently. Marinette’s own fingers hung there loosely for a moment before she managed to get herself to grab onto his hand as well. Adrien laughed softly as his grip tightened slightly. 

Marinette felt stuck even as he released her and stepped away. 

“I’ll call the real estate agent now and have her bring the papers over,” He said, starting to head up the stairs to the second floor. 

Marinette had to shake her head to get herself moving again and began to follow after him. “So, what’s up those stairs,” Marinette asked.

“Oh, it’s a finished attic,” Adrien said. “It’s got a kitchenette and a couch already up there. All I need to do is find a bed and it’ll be all set.”

“A bed,” Marinette said. “You’re going to live here?”

“Well, it was either get an apartment or an office for us, and this place happens to come with both so it’s a win-win situation,” Adrien said. 

Marinette frowned at the thought of Adrien living here all by himself and made a mental note to bring over some house-warming gifts to make the place at least seem like a decent home. 

And, maybe ask her parents to make Adrien a couple of meals he could put in the freezer. Just in case, so he wouldn’t starve to death. 

It took a moment for Adrien to get off the phone with the realtor. “So, should we order some takeout to celebrate?”

\--------------------------------

Marinette and Adrien both sat in the middle of the ground floor, take out boxes filled with Indian food spread around them. They’d discovered that as the sky got darker, and as they lost the light that had becoming in from the large windows near the ceiling, that many of the lightbulbs were not working anymore. Instead, both of them had turned the flashlights on their phones and set them next to them. 

The realtor had come and gone, and now they were both sitting in the building that they owned together. Adrien, despite her protestations, had forced Marinette to sign the deed with him. 

“So,” Adrien said, trying to swallow down a mouthful of naan bread. “We need to decide on a name.”

“Hmm,” Marinette asked, quickly trying to finish her own food. “Oh, a name for the company.”

“We can’t use either of our names. Obviously.”

“Obviously.”  
Marinette tapped the end of the fork she was holding to her chin, thinking for a moment. All at once, she fumbled to turn around and grab her backpack.

“What are you doing,” Adrien asked as Marinette pulled out her sketchbook.

“Just give me a minute.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Marinette could see Adrien watching her, trying to act patient, but he was sitting on his knees and bouncing up and down on heels. Her eyes flicked back and forth between him and the page, making sure he wasn’t cheating. She dragged him on a little, laughing internally as he waited on the edge of his seat. After five minutes, Marinette finished up, and wiped the loose eraser shavings off of the page. 

“Here,” She said, handing it to Adrien. 

“Bonne Chances,” Adrien read aloud. He picked up his phone, shining the flashlight on the page. “Are these- Are these out lucky charms?”

“Yup,” Marinette said, holding up her’s that was clipped onto the strap of her bag. “I figured that we’ve each got one that we gave to each other… So, it’s kind of like we’re each other’s lucky charms. We can’t run this place without each other, so when we’re together we’ll have better luck succeeding.”

Adrien scrambled up to his feet. “Do you have any tape?”

“I have a thumbtack,” Marinette said, handing him a small box. 

Adrien headed towards the front door, Marinette following behind holding up the flashlight so both of them could see. Adrien took one of the thumbtacks out of the box and pinned the picture Marinette had just drawn to the door, handing her back the rest of the sketchbook.

“I think it looks great,” Adrien said. 

“It does.” 

They stood there for a moment together, looking at their new name and logo. Marinette’s phone buzzed startling her, and she opened it to read the new message.

“It’s my parents,” Marinette said. “I’ve got to start heading back home.”

“I’ll walk you,” Adrien said. “I’m staying at Nino’s one more time and then moving in here, so I have to head back that way.”

“Great,” Marinette said, not even bothering to try and tell him that’d she be fine on her own. 

They quickly packed up the food together gathered up their things. Marinette was almost out the door when she remembered that she had been carrying something around in her bag for the past few days that she had been meaning to give to Adrien.

“Hold on, just a second,” Marinette said. She walked over to the side of the room where the only counter space available had been. She pulled the photograph of Adrien and his mother out of her purse and placed it carefully there. 

“Where did you get that,” Adrien asked.

“I stole it from your old room,” Marinette said. “I figured it belonged with you more than being covered in dust.”

Marinette stepped back and looked at the picture. “Much better now. Let’s get going, shall we?”

Marinette turned off the last few remaining lights while Adrien held the door open for her, and then once they were both out, locked it behind him. 


	9. Chapter Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tuesday might just become the day I update this now. I'm not sure.
> 
> Thanks to epcot97 and constantconfusion14 for beta-reading this chapter for me!

“There has to be an easier way to get this up these stairs,” Nino said with a strained voice. Currently, he and Adrien were both attempting to take the mattress up both flights of stairs and into the attic. The fact that both of them were already exhausted and still on the second-floor balcony made Adrien seriously doubt Nino’s intelligence when he had said that movers were an unnecessary expense. Of course, it was nice to save the money, but it didn’t seem worth the pain he was going to be feeling the following morning. 

“It’s all about looking tough man,” Nino said. “My girlfriend is up there unpacking boxes that she carried three at a time. I’m not about to let her go unmatched.”

“I’ve got nobody I’m trying to impress though, Nino,” Adrien said, grunting with effort as he tried to kick open the door to the attic while still keeping a hold on the mattress.

“Uhuh, yeah, sure,” Nino said. “No one at all…”   


“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, nothing,” Nino said. “Nothing.”

Adrien gave Nino a quizzical look and tried once more to kick the handle with his foot. Just as the sole of his shoe was about to make contact, the door swung open, revealing Marinette on the other side. They stared at each other as Adrien tried to regain his balance, struggling to get back on two feet, and keep ahold of the mattress, and not knock Nino back down the stairs. 

Marinette stifled her laughter, looking down at the floor to try and wipe the amused smile off of her face. “So, that’s what the banging was. You could have just yelled at us to open up, you know?”

“You know, that honestly didn’t cross my mind,” Adrien said. Marinette smiled again as she stepped back to allow Adrien and Nino to enter. 

Adrien sighed in relief as they were finally able to put the mattress down in on of the far corners of the room. He caught his breath and took a look around. The walls were still the same dirty beige color and the paint was still peeling away all except for one bright place. Marinette was perched upon a step stool with a paint roller in hand, her back facing him as she attempted to reach the highest part of the wall, teetering on her tiptoes to do so. The image of her falling backward and landing on the floor flashed through his brain so vividly it might have been a premonition. Cautious and determined, he took a grounded position directly behind her, because even if he wasn’t lucky enough to catch her and hold steady in time, he would at least break her fall.

Marinette must have sensed his presence because she turned and faced him. “Do you like it?”

Adrien took a moment to really look at the sage green color she was painting on the walls, having not really cared to notice before. He nodded. “It’s nice,” Adrien said. “Though I remember asking you to help me move in. What I don’t remember is asking you to decorate my entire place.”  
“You don’t have to ask,” Marinette said hopping down off of the stool. Adrien couldn’t help but put his hands out as she made her way to solid ground. It was almost an involuntary response. “Besides, I thought you hired me to be a designer.”

She turned and picked up a grocery bag that was sitting on the floor. Adrien peeked inside. There were a few rolls of wallpaper a darker shade of green than the paint Marinette had gotten with a gold art deco design. 

“For the wall with the kitchenette,” Marinette said. “You can help me with that later.” 

Adrien couldn’t help but smile as she went back to work. She hadn’t even given him a chance to argue against the whole thing, and oddly Adrien didn’t feel like he needed to. She had known exactly what he would have wanted to make the one room feel more like home. Already it felt much cozier than before.

Turning around, Adrien noticed that Alya and Nino were standing there watching them. Both of their expressions were blank, but clearly there was something being left unsaid that they were both thinking.

“What,” Adrien asked.

“Hmm,” Alya said. “Nothing.

Nino coughed, scratched his head, and turned away. “Yeah, nothing… Nothing at all.”

Adrien frowned but brushed it off, deciding that trying to decipher whatever was going on inside their heads wasn’t worth his time right now. Alya elbowed Nino in the ribs, causing him to groan out in pain. “Right, Adrien, we’re off to get lunch,” Nino said, grabbing him by the arm. 

“Really, we just ate like an hour ago-”

“Well, I’m hungry,” Nino said. “And, I’m sure Marinette is feeling hungry too since she’s been doing the most work out of all of us.”   


Marinette stopped her painting and turned around to face them. “I wouldn’t turn down food if you brought it back.”   


“Right,” Adrien said after a moment. “Anything in particular you want?”

“Surprise me,” Marinette said with a shrug.

“Okay cool,” Adrien said and followed Nino out.

Adrien did not, in fact, feel cool about Marinette saying that she was fine with anything. In reality, there were probably some foods Marinette would not like him to bring back whatsoever. He should have listened better when she was ordering take out the other night to see what kinds of things she usually liked. He huffed in frustration as he walked along with Nino. 

Nino glanced over at Adrien, narrowing his eyes. As Adrien sighed again, Nino bumped into him, almost knocking Adrien off the sidewalk.

“Dude, calm down,” Nino said. “It’s not like you’re being asked to pick out an engagement ring for her. Let’s just go with pasta. You can’t go wrong with that.”   


Nino grabbed Adrien and dragged him through the door of an Italian restaurant. Having never tried any of the places in the area, Adrien was a little hesitant about just picking a random place they were walking past, but Nino was correct. You really could never go wrong with pasta. 

“Hi, we’d like to get a to-go order,” Nino said as they made it up to the counter. Nino quickly picked out what he and Alya wanted, and Adrien easily enough chose spaghetti for himself. Marinette was a different story. 

“What about the alfredo,” Nino said.

“A lot of people don’t like alfredo,” Adrien countered. “Can I get the mac and cheese?”

It was a safe enough option. Even if he was ordering off the kid’s menu. 

Suddenly, an idea struck him. “Can you put bacon on the top of that?”

The cashier already seemed annoyed with how indecisive he had been, but he waved his hand anyway. Adrien took that as a sign to back away from the counter and wait for the food to be ready in silence. Even after he got the plastic bag handed to him, he was still unsure about the choice of mac and cheese, but he knew for sure that his choice in toppings was brilliant. 

“You’ve been overthinking this way too much,” Nino said. “If you did order the wrong thing, you would never know. Marinette’s that good at hiding stuff like that.”  
Adrien shook his head, and turned his to look at the other shops lining the street. He stopped, almost having passed a small patisserie, but caught it in the corner of his eye just in time. “Let’s get dessert, too.”  


“Whatever you say,” Nino said, following his friend inside. 

Adrien leaned down to look at what they were offering through the glass, careful not to fog it up. He almost wasn’t sure what to choose. Everything looked absolutely delicious. 

“Uhhh,” Adrien said still trying to buy himself a few seconds to decide. “Four… passion fruit macarons, please.”

“No, sorry,” Nino said quickly and asked the shop owner for a few more seconds. “Marinette can’t have passion fruit. She’s allergic. I had so much faith in you, but you really did pick the one thing that Marinette can’t eat.”   


“Oh,” Adrien said, trying to hide his disappointment. It was all directed towards himself, feeling stupid for being so unaware of something so important about his friend. He made a mental note and nailed it to the wall of his mind, determined not to ever forget. Adrien tried his best to brush off the guilty feeling and stepped back up to the counter. “Three passion fruit and one peach macaron, please.”   


Adrien paid and Nino took the bag of sweets, sticking it with the rest of their meal. “Alright, let’s head back. The ladies are waiting.”   


\-------------------------------

“UGh, I’m so hungry,” Alya whined, letting her head drop against the top of a closed cardboard box. “When are those idiots getting back?”

“They just left five minutes ago,” Marinette said, turning around to look at her friend from where she was still painting the second wall with primer. 

“How are you being so peppy right now,” Alya said. “Aren’t you starving, too?”   


“I’m am very content right now,” Marinette said. She was focused on the strokes she made with her brush, careful not to get any on the crown molding near the ceiling. She’d be coming back to paint those later. “I’m having fun.”   


“You’re having fun doing tedious labor,” Alya asked. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Marinette said with a small laugh. “We’re doing a nice thing for our friend. What could be more fun?”   


“Okay, that’s it,” Alya said standing up and crossing her arms. “Mari, Nino and I did a nice thing for a friend. We moved boxes and furniture up two flights of stairs and through a narrow doorway. You, on the other hand, are doing something only a girlfriend would do. You went overboard, girl.”

“I seriously doubt that,” Marinette scoffed. “What’s overboard about painting a few walls?”

Alya looked around the room. “The size of this place is huge. It’s going to take you more than just one day.”

“Then I’ll come back and finish.”

“And, get to spend more time with Adrien,” Alya said, nudging Marinette’s arm, who had to steady herself on the stool. “I’m starting to think that crush never really went away.” 

“You would be mistaken,” Marinette said. “I like that Adrien and I are starting to become close friends.”   


“Mhmm, that’ll last about, maybe, two more weeks,” Alya said. “Then he’ll be practically begging you to date him.”

Marinette hopped down off the stool and set her paintbrush down. “Weren’t you saying there were a few more boxes downstairs we needed to move up.”

“Nice job changing the subject,” Alya said, calling after Marinette as she was already  heading down the stairs. 

Marinette and Alya both grabbed the sides of the heaviest box and headed towards the stairs, bracing themselves for another long trip. Alya, who had started walking backwards, was just up on the first step when the front door slammed open. Marinette was startled. In a split second, she lost her grip on the box went tumbling out of both of their hands. She yelped in pain as the heavy box landed on her foot, and she couldn’t help but sink down to the ground. Marinette grabbed onto her injured foot trying to alleviate some of the pain as she tried to focus on whoever had just stormed in. 

For a moment, Marinette thought that Adrien had suddenly, and seemingly angrily, shown back up. The professional attire and the styled hair were both dead giveaways that this was, in fact, not Adrien, but rather Adrien’s doppelganger. Marinette didn’t think she would have to contemplate what it would mean to run into an Adrien Agreste look-alike, and a clearly hostile one at that.

“Where the hell is Adrien Agreste,” The boy said. He looked around the room and turned up his nose. 

“I think we might already be looking at him,” Alya said under her breath.

“This place is disgusting,” He said. “Who are you people?”   


“I’m sorry,” Marinette said, trying to stand back up on her feet. She winced in pain and immediately decided to settle herself back on the ground. She’d deal with whatever was going on there later. Right now, there was this asshole, who seemed like a more immediate problem. “Adrien isn’t here right now. Can I pass along a message for you?”

“Whatever I’m waiting,” He said, waving his hand absentmindedly. “Do you even have any chairs here, or does everyone just sit on the floor like you do?”

“Okay,” Alya said, drawing in a deep breath as she clapped her hands together. “Buddy, either walk out that door right now or just wait quietly. We’re kind of busy-”

“I’m going to wait and I’m going to be as loud as I want,” He said, crossing his arms. “I own part of this building anyway.”

“That doesn’t give you the right to burst in here and start acting like a dick-”

“Felix, what the hell are you doing here,” Adrien asked from the doorway. He looked across the room to where Marinette was sitting and immediately push the bags into Nino’s hands. “Why is Marinette on the floor?”

Adrien rushed across the room and stretched out his hands towards her. Marinette tried to protest. “No, I got it myself-”   


“Don’t be silly,” Adrien said placing one hand under her elbow and the other gripping her wrist as he helped haul her to her feet. Marinette winced in pain as she stepped onto her injured foot and immediately shifted some of her weight onto Adrien. While she was mostly focused on her own pain at the moment, she didn’t miss the glare that Adrien threw towards Adrien 2’s- Felix’s- direction.

“Why are you looking at me like that,” Felix asked.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Adrien said. “It’s just that most of the time whenever someone who is injured and you are in the same room, the injury is your fault.”   


“Well, this time that’s not true,” Felix said, giving Adrien a death glare in return. 

“It’s fine,” Marinette said. “I just got startled when he stormed in here and I dropped one of the boxes.”

“So, it was your fault,” Adrien said, returning his attention to Felix. Felix rolled his eyes and leaned up against one of the walls, clearly not interested in continuing the conversation. Adrien helped Marinette over to the stairs and bent down to help her sit. “We’ll eat food down here. And, no more painting for today.”

Adrien helped Nino distribute the food they had brought back. When Marinette was handed her to-go container she couldn’t help but smile when she saw what was inside. She smiled brightly. “Thanks!”

Once they had all settled in with their food, Marinette ate, but kept an eye on the boy in the corner of the room. He kept clearing his throat loudly, trying to get their attention. Clearly, he was uncomfortable with being ignored, especially after all the fuss he made in his entrance. Felix grumbled as he walked over to them.

“Aren’t you going to introduce me,” Felix said. 

“OH,” Adrien said. “I didn’t notice you were still here. Everyone, this is Felix. My cousin. Felix this is Alya, Nino, and Marinette, whose foot injury you caused.”

Felix rolled his eyes yet again and settled down on the opposite side of the stairs, leaning back in a position that Marinette figured had to be uncomfortable. 

“So, when you said you owned part of the building,” Alya said. “What do you mean?”

“I mean Adrien borrowed money from me and bought this place,” Felix said. “As such I owe half.”  
“Yes, as a personal agreement between us,” Adrien said. 

“I know,” Felix said. “You made it explicitly clear my name wasn’t going on the deed.”

“Marinette’s name is on the deed,” Adrien said causally. Everyone’s eyes turned towards him, and all Marinette could do was sink down and try to hide.

Felix looked between Adrien in Marinette, and ended up narrowing his eyes at her. “You’re really not making me like her at all.”

“Since when did you and Marinette get in a position where you own a fucking building together,” Nino asked, dropping his fork. 

“She doesn’t own it,” Felix said. “She didn’t provide any money.”

“Both Marinette and Felix are important to my new business venture,” Adrien said. “Marinette Dupain Cheng is extremely important, hence, her name goes on the deed.”

“I will never understand… whatever this is between the two of you,” Alya said, giving up just as it seemed Nino had. 

“Nothing is going on,” Marinette said, finally feeling the need to speak up. “Well, not nothing, but we are friends and we’re working together. That’s all.”

“Exactly,” Adrien agreed. 

They finished up the rest of their meals in relative silence, only every so often making comments for someone to pass a napkin. Once everyone had finished their meals, Nino grabbed the last bag and passed it around. He pulled out another one separate from the rest and handed it to Marinette. 

“Peach, for you,” Nino said. “Kept separate and safe.”

“Why, thank you,” Marinette said, opening up the small paper bag to find a macaron. She was just about to take a bite when she looked over to see Felix watching them out of the corner of his eye. His face still seemed impassive, and even though he showed up without warning, Marinette couldn’t help but feel bad that he didn’t have anything. “Here.”   


Marinette held out the macaron in her hand, urging him to take. Felix turned his head towards her, looking between Marinette and the macaron. He seemed to be about to say something when Adrien spoke first.

“Hey,” He said, reaching back and pushing Marinette’s hand back towards her. “Don’t give that to him. I got that for you. If he wanted something he should have said.”  
“You didn’t even know he’d be here,” Marinette said. “Besides, I feel bad that we’ve been eating in front of you this entire time.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Felix said, waving his hand. “I don’t like sweets anyway.” 

Alya wiped her hands on her jeans and stood up. “Well, should we get the rest of this stuff up there?”  
“Right,” Marinette said, as she started to stand to her feet. 

“Woah, hang on,” Alya said. “You’re good for today. We’ll get the rest. We don’t want to  have any more box-dropping incidents.” 

Marinette looked around awkwardly, unsure of what to do. Eventually, her eyes landed on Adrien, who nodded in agreement with Alya. “She’s right. The three of us can do the rest. Four of us… If Felix decides to stay.”   


“I have to be going, too,” Felix said. “Don’t worry, I’ll come back and yell at you some other time. I’ve got a list.”   


“Goody,” Adrien said. 

Marinette patted the pockets of her overalls, making sure she had everything she needed. “Well then, I guess I’ll be on my way.”

“You’re not seriously going to walk home,” Nino said. 

“I’ll take the bus-”

“I’ll drive her,” Felix said suddenly. Marinette whipped her head around, surprised at his  offer. “I’ve got my car with me, and I have a feeling that Adrien is going to nag me about taking you anyway. So, come on.”

Adrien nodded. “Thank you,” He said, and looked to Marinette. “I’ll help you out to the car.”

“I’m really fine,” Marinette said holding up her hands as he took a step towards her. “Seriously, you guys are overreacting. It’ll probably be fine by tomorrow.”

“But, if you’re not careful, it could get worse,” Adrien said.

“Trust me, this isn't the first time I’ve dropped something on my foot,” Marinette said. “Thanks for the food. I’ll see you guys at school tomorrow.”   


Marinette waved goodbye as she walked as normal as possible towards the front door, and Felix followed close behind her. As soon as the front door was shut behind her, Marinette relaxed her muscles and let herself limp a little. She winced at the pain that hadn’t really subsided since it had first started. It was true that she was clumsy, and getting injuries like this was a totally normal thing for her, but it didn’t make it any less annoying.

Felix chuckled behind her, and Marinette whipped around, looking at him with a raised eyebrow. “What?”

“Nothing,” Felix said. “I’m just starting to think that you and Adrien are very much alike. In some ways.”

Marinette shook her head and stopped as Felix opened a car door for her. She slid inside, sitting in the passenger seat. Silently, she hoped that this car ride would be as short as possible. 


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> acutally updating on sunday? can't be me

Marinette tried her best to keep her eyes towards the window. Though she’d barely known him two hours now, Felix didn’t seem like the kind of person to really want to make casual, polite conversation. He certainly seemed completely focused on driving, so Marinette elected not to do anything that would make her potentially bothersome. 

Instead, Marinette occupied herself trying to pick the dried paint off of her overalls. Her mind stayed mostly blank as she dug her fingernails underneath the green paint. There was one splatter that just wouldn’t come off no matter how hard she tried-

“You’re humming you know,” Felix said, startling Marinette. His voice sounded almost deafening compared to the absolute silence there had been before.

“What?”

“You’re humming,” Felix repeated. “It’s annoying. What song is that anyway?”

“I don’t even know,” Marinette said. “I wasn’t really paying attention.”

Felix hummed a series of notes himself, and Marinette almost immediately recognized the tune, groaning internally that, of course, it had to be an annoying pop song stuck in her head.

“It’s a Clara Nightingale song,” Marinette said. 

“Disgusting.” 

Marinette scoffed and turned her head away. It was a few moments of awkward silence before Felix spoke again.

“So,” Felix said. “You’re a designer?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Are you good,” He asked. “Or are you just the only designer Adrien knows?”

Marinette opened her mouth to answer but found she didn’t have one. Her mouth hung open as she pondered his question, stuttering occasionally as she thought she found the beginning of a sentence. “I think… the latter?”   


“Okay, but are you saying that just because you want to seem humble, or do you actually believe it,” Felix asked. Marinette felt even more confused than before, and maybe slightly offended. 

Relief flooded through Marinette as she felt her phone begin to vibrate in her pocket. She quickly pulled it out before the conversation had any excuse to continue, but the caller ID only filled her with more anxiety and, reluctantly, she answered it. “Hello.”   


“Marinette, we need you to come and pick up some of the things you left at the office,” Natalie’s voice came through the speaker. Marinette bit her lip, trying desperately to think of a way to say it was okay for them just to toss whatever she had left there. “Is there any time you can come by this evening?”

“Umm,” Marinette said, looking over at Felix, who clearly wasn’t interested in the conversation. He probably wouldn’t have helped her anyway. Marinette sighed. “I’m actually out right now, so I can stop by in probably the next ten minutes.”   


“Great,” Natalie said and hung up without another word.

Marinette shoved her phone back into her pocket, and sucked in a deep breath, puffing out her cheeks as she held it in. She put on a nervous smile as she turned to Felix. “I need you to drop me off at the Agreste offices.”

“What,” Felix scoffed. “Why?”   


“I was an intern there before… Adrien,” Marinette said quickly, barely focusing on the explanation itself and more on Felix’s reaction. “Anyway, my things- I left some things there. I have to go get them, so… You can just drop me off there and be on your way.”   


Felix didn’t even really give an answer, just a noticeable exhale of breath and a change on his GPS.  It wasn’t long before he had pulled up to the curb and Marinette was unbuckling her seatbelt to get out. After she had stepped onto the sidewalk, she leaned back in the open door. “Thanks. I suppose we’ll be seeing each other again sometime.”

“Yeah, I suppose we will,” Felix said. 

Marinette didn’t quite know what to say after that, so left it at an awkward smile and closed the car door. 

She’d always felt nervous walking into the Agreste offices, but this time there was something more to it. It felt like walking into enemy territory. The past two times she had spoken with Gabriel Agreste, he had tried to get her to talk about Adrien, and while she had been avoiding him it at the time it had felt easier to just walk away from the conversation. Now, Marinette felt as though he could take one look at her with those cold eyes and she’d feel pressured to share everything that had happened since the moment she’d left the Agreste mansion to leaving Adrien’s apartment fifteen minutes ago like he was just gutting the information out of her with a sharp glare. 

Marinette prayed she would just walk in and get her things from Natalie, walking back out the door without even seeing a glimpse of Gabriel Agreste. 

She paused just outside the entrance of the lobby, picking up her injured foot from off the ground to give it a moment of respite. It couldn’t be helped that she had to limp her way inside. Marinette leaned on the receptionist’s desk, taking her weight off the foot. “Hi, I’m here to see Nathalie Sancoeur.”

“Oh, Marinette!” The receptionist looked up from her computer. “She’s expecting you. We miss having you around here.”

“I do, too,” Marinette said, laughing nervously. “Gotta focus on school now… and stuff.”

“Absolutely,” She said. “Have to make it to graduation so they can hire you back, right?”

“Right,” Marinette said. “Thanks.”  
Marinette made it five steps away from the desk when the receptionist called back to her. “Oh, Marinette, Nathalie wanted me to let you know to take the stairs. They’re trying to keep the elevators clear so the seamstresses and designers can move design prototypes.”  
“Oh,” Marinette said, her fake smile faltering. “Thanks for the heads up.”

Marinette looked from the elevators, where a few people were waiting impatiently for it to arrive, and the entrance to the stairs, a lonely and empty place. She could already feel the pain in her foot increasing, but did her best to strengthen her resolve. What were 20 flights of stairs really?

By the time she made it to the 20th, Marinette was breathing heavily, practically hopping on one foot, and wanting collapse right where she stood. She made her way slowly over to Nathalie’s desk, trying to regain control of her breathing. Nathalie looked up as she saw Marinette approaching, but if she noticed Marinette’s current state, she gave no clue that she did. 

“Hi sorry,” Marinette said, leaning up against the desk. 

Nathalie set down a large cardboard box in front of her, filled with things that Marinette had forgotten to come to collect. “Here, I think this should be everything. If it’s not just give me a call. We’ll give you a pass to come back and look.”   


“Great, thanks,” Marinette said, reaching to grab onto the handles. She stopped cold, hands frozen in midair, at the sound of a door opening behind her. Marinette stayed perfectly still. She knew it wouldn’t render her invisible, but may she could just go unnoticed. Just this once.

“Nathalie, did you get the last reports from marketing,” Gabriel said. 

“Yes, sir,” Nathalie said. “I’ll make sure to email them to you in a moment.”

There was a prolonged silence that Marinette guessed couldn’t have been more than a 

few seconds, but it felt like hours. She didn’t know when to move again, or if he had even left. A door hadn’t closed, that she was sure of. 

“Miss Dupain-Cheng.” The sound of her own name sent a white-hot, sharp pain through her chest, startling her. Marinette stepped away from the desk, lowering her hands from the box, giving herself a moment before  _ had _ to turn around and face him. “Can I see you in my office for a moment?”

Marinette nodded frantically, willing her feet to move. She walked past him into the room, all the while not even glancing up him. The split second that she actually passed him, Gabriel towered over her and she had the sudden image of him devouring her whole. When he actually closed the door, she began to feel very, very trapped. 

Keeping her eyes squarely on the window and the buildings outside, Marinette tried to keep her expression blank. Gabriel had walked back around his desk and sat down in his chair. He motioned for her to take a seat, and Marinette was almost tempted to refuse. Slowly, she lowered herself down in the chair. 

“I wanted to speak to you since we didn’t have a chance at the end of Fashion Week,” Gabriel said. “I understand your reasoning in deciding not to work with us through the rest of the school year, education is important, but I want you to understand just how valuable the time you’re losing is.”

Marinette sat back in her chair and placed her hands in her lap, twiddling her thumbs. She tried to avoid eye contact, staring behind him off into the distance. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to dissociate. 

“Especially since you’re graduating, you’d have many great networking opportunities with future instructors, as well as some other people who could be great connections to have in the industry,” Gabriel said. “Not to mention, you wouldn’t have to enter any more junior competitions to try and earn internships. You’ve proved your worth and your talent. Now, it’s time to start working at the same level as every other designer.”

“Mr. Agreste,” Marinette said with a deep sigh. “I greatly appreciate the offer. I know it’s an incredible opportunity-”  
“Then you should accept,” He said. “I’m sure if you talked to my son he would tell you the same thing. Adrien knows the industry, he knows how important it is to make connections. I’m sure we could come to some sort of deal that would be beneficial to everyone. Including Adrien.”

Her attempt to keep her expression as stoic as possible failed as Marinette quirked an eyebrow.  _ So,  _ she thought,  _ that’s what this is all about. _

Marinette didn’t matter, her talent wasn’t important. Gabriel was after Adrien, trying to pull him back into his toxic web and catch Marinette in the process. She was nothing more than collateral damage to him. 

“I think I’ve made my decision,” Marinette said, trying to sound as confident as possible. “I know what’s most important to me right now.” 

“Miss Dupain-Cheng,” Gabriel said, standing up from his seat. Marinette froze, her confidence fleeing out the door, leaving her there cowering in her chair. “I can assure you that declining my generous offer could make your future in this industry very, very difficult.”

Marinette couldn’t tell where the fear was coming from, but it filled her, boiling over with a  mixture of anger and a strong desire to run. “Mr. Agreste-” Marinette said, struggling to speak. “Mr. Agreste I- I’m sorry, but my answer is no.”

She stood suddenly, before he could say anything else, and exited the room. She felt lighter once she stepped foot out of the office and back into the open. Quickly making her way back to Nathalie’s desk, Marinette grabbed onto the box, dismaying at the extra weight it added. Marinette cleared her throat, catching Nathalie’s attention. “Do you- do you think I can take the elevator back down?”

Nathalie was staring past her, and Marinette could guess just who she was looking at. Marinette could feel those eyes on her two, and the anger seething off him felt toxic to her. Gabriel Agreste was not a man people said no to, and Marinette knew that. She used to be content being given scraps of praise from him, but even then she had feared him. It wasn’t unheard of to be turned on in a second and instead of being thrown praise, you’d be thrown onto a blacklist. Like Cecile. Like Marina. 

When Natalie shook her head no, Marinette thought she might hit a breaking point and start crying right there. She was tired, and in pain, and it certainly wasn’t helping that she was being yelled at, intimidated, and deliberately humiliated by being pushed to the stairs. 

But, Marinette was too tired and too in pain to be here any longer, so the stairs would have to do. 

She practically jogged out of the office, and once past the door to the stairwell, Marinette leaned up against the wall. She let out a single sob that had been caught in her throat, nearly dropping the cardboard box as she tried to stifle it. With a few deep breaths, Marinette calmed herself enough to push off the wall and peered over the railing of the stairs. It was a long way down. 

“Have to get started at some point,” Marinette said. She leaned back as she went down the first step, pushing the box up against her hips as she tried to lessen some of the weight on her wrists. It was even slower going than the way up, and she wanted to drop down and just lie, sprawled out on the stairs forever. 

When she made it down to the lobby, she didn’t care about walking properly anymore, didn’t care about the sweat running down the side of her face. Marinette exited the building as quickly as she could, hoping being outside the literal pits of hell would make her feel better. It didn’t. 

Suddenly, Marinette realized she was faced with yet another problem. She had no way to get home. She’d sent Felix off. The bus stop was far, and walking was even farther. At this point, Marinette really was ready to just lie down on the ground forever but opted for the slightly better position of sitting on the curb and coming up with a plan. 

It occurred to her that the best option was to call someone. Alya and Nino would come to get her in a heartbeat. Adrien would too, but she felt so pathetic the idea of any of them seeing her in her current state was mortifying, and she had enough of feeling that way for one day. 

Marinette wrapped her arms around her knees and let her head rest against them. 

“What the hell are you doing?”

Marinette looked up to see Felix standing over her, his arms crossed over his chest. 

“I’m resting,” Marinette said, rubbing her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt. “What are you doing here?”

Felix sighed. “Doing something nice, I suppose.”

He reached down and picked up the cardboard box. He’d parked his car right next to where she had been sitting, and Marinette almost couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed him pull up. Once he’d loaded her things, Felix reached down his hand. He still had an indifferent look on his face and he sounded almost annoyed when he spoke, but Marinette knew is actions were what were truly speaking here. She took his hand as he helped her to her feet. 

“I thought you left,” Marinette said. 

“I did,” Felix said. “I find arguing pointless when it comes to things like this, but I know Adrien would strangle me with his bare hands if he found out I had just left you.”

“You’re not going to tell him you dropped me off here,” Marinette said. 

“No.” Felix shook his head. “As far as he’s concerned I dropped you off at your house twenty minutes ago.”  
“Thank you,” Marinette said, smiling. “You’re not half bad.”

“I’m not doing this for you again,” Felix said. “So, don’t expect me to be nice to you all the time.”

Marinette shook her head, choosing not to believe a word of what he just said. She could tell his indifferent exterior was just an act. What she did believe was the fact that he wasn’t being nice for her sake, but for Adrien’s. Even if the cousins acted like they didn’t like each other, they did still love each other. 

“Well, let’s go,” Marinette said, walking towards the car. “The foot  _ you  _ injured is getting worse.” 


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks so much to deinde-prandium, epcot97, and constantconfusion14 for being my beta readers for this chapter!

Adrien spent about a good ten minutes looking for Marinette, but a good half portion of that time freaking out about why she wasn’t answering his texts. Nino was the one who ended up answering his calls. Apparently, Adrien had been looking in the wrong place the entire time as Nino informed him that Marinette was with him and Alya at the park in front of her house. Adrien didn’t really have to sprint all the way there, but he made it to his friends quickly and only slightly out of breath. Marinette noticed him approaching and waved him over. The three of them were seated on a blanket with their textbooks and notes spread out around them. He jogged over, but didn’t sit down. 

“Hey,” Nino said, “Care to join us? We’re just doing homework and working on applications for uni. Mari’s mom was going to bring us out some food in a bit, too.”

“Can’t,” Adrien said. “But it sounds nice.”   


“Come on, it’s not like you to pass on free Dupain-Cheng food,” Alya said. 

“I normally would not, but I have other priorities right now,” Adrien said. “I need Marinette.”

Alya’s eyes widened, but her expression soon shifted to one of delight and amusement. She quirked her eyebrow, and only then did Adrien realize his mistake.

_ Shit, I did not mean to say it like that. _

Whether Marinette noticed the other implications of his words or not, she was quickly starting to pack up her bag. She slung it over her shoulder as she stood up, and turned to Alya. “Let me borrow your notes later?”

“Sure, but what do you want me to tell your mom when she comes out here? You promised you’d hand a list of schools you were applying to by the end of the day, remember?”

“I already have a list, don’t worry,” Marinette said. “Just tell her Adrien and I went to run some errands and we’ll be back later. I promise we’ll both work then.”

Nino waved goodbye as Marinette and Adrien headed off. Adrien waved back to him and walked out of the park side by side with Marinette. It didn’t occur to Adrien immediately, but he realized that they had begun traveling with each other like this for a while. Now, they fell almost in perfect step with one another. Adrien knew automatically to walk at a slower pace in order to account for the fact that Marinette was shorter than he was. He had noticed her once speed walking, almost at the pace of a jog, in order to keep up with him. He wasn’t sure why, but he had gotten in his head that he had to be walking in between Marinette and the edge of the sidewalk. There was no real reason to. Something about it just made him feel more at ease. 

“So,” Marinette said, bumping into him lightly. “What are we doing?”

“Well, we have a couple things we need to oversee at the office,” Adrien said, looking down at the time on his phone. “We might be a little late, so prepare yourself for Felix throwing a tizzy fit when we get there.”

“Right,” Marinette laughed. 

Just as Adrien suspected, by the time they arrived at the building, the moving company’s truck was already parked outside and getting ready to unload. They squeezed past two men unloading a box onto the sidewalk and went inside. Felix was standing in the middle of the room and tapping his foot impatiently. 

“Where have you been?” Felix said. “I’ve been waiting for twenty minutes. I have no clue what you want to do with these things.” 

“We have school, you know,” Adrien said. “Besides, we’re here now, so we can get  started and you can just go sit on your ass. How about that?”

Felix rolled his eyes. “I’ll be upstairs on my computer doing actual work if you need me.”

“Oh, wait,” Marinette called to him as he started heading up the stairs. “Will you take this up there for me, please?”

Adrien watched in surprise as Marinette handed Felix her backpack, and Felix actually took it. He stood there for a few seconds, and Adrien half expected him to just drop it on the floor and walk away. Felix sighed, and instead of just leaving it there, slung it over his shoulder and headed up the stairs without a word of complaint. 

“How-” Adrien asked, still confused by what he just witnessed. “How did you get him to do that?”

“I asked nicely,” Marinette said. “Maybe you should try that.”

Marinette and Adrien watched as the movers outside began unloading more boxes and bringing them inside. 

“So,” Marinette asked. “What is all this stuff?”

“This is for you,” Adrien said. “Well, technically it’s for the workshop, which is your department, so it’s for you. A couple of industrial sewing machines, dress forms, embroidery machines, workbenches, cutting tools. It’s what I could get my hands on for now, but it’s a good start. And we got them at a pretty fair price.”   


“Really?” Marinette said. She was looking at one of the sewing machines as it was carried past. “Where did you get them from?”

“Well, it turns out the Agreste brand abandoned the last of their domestic production workshops in order to get cheaper labor overseas,” Adrien said. “I had Felix use a dummy company to make a deal with the owner to sell us their stuff, and made it part of the sale contract to use a portion of the money as severance pay for the workers.” 

It certainly hadn’t been his objective to impress Marinette, but the way she looked at him with clear admiration was an added bonus to the whole thing. She smiled and shook her head. “Oh, you genius.” 

“Thank- thank you.” Adrien fumbled for words. He sincerely hoped that Marinette didn’t see that he was caught off guard. “Do you, uh- Do you want to direct where you think stuff should be placed?”

Marinette nodded, a determined look on her face. “Right. Let’s get to work shall we?”

\---------------------

Adrien had known how much time work was going to take up in his life, and was prepared to sacrifice what should have been time dedicated to his young, cool teen social life, but even he could admit that the amount of time he had spent at a computer the last two weeks were a bit much. The only person working more than he was would be Felix, who - if not seated in front of a computer screen - could not be torn away from the phone that was permanently stuck in his hands. The number of empty promises Adrien made to Marinette when he walked her home in the evenings about how he would absolutely go to sleep at a decent hour were astounding. One of these days he would honor at least one of those promises, but it seemed like, yet again, today would not be that day.

All the work put in was starting to pay off, though. Adrien had managed to secure a supplier for materials, a small company located in Switzerland that was more than happy to do business with him. The other upside was that the Gabriel brand had never heard of them. In all likelihood, no other fashion houses in Paris had, either. 

However, even his satisfaction with that job well done didn’t stop him from feeling like he was about to keel over. When was the last time he had had a cup of coffee to try and keep himself awake? Was it an hour ago? Two? How would he manage to get himself upstairs to the kitchenette to make…

“Hey.” Marinette’s voice made Adrien sit straight up in his chair, once again on full alert. He shook his head, trying to wake himself up a little bit more, and turned his full attention to her. She held out a paper to him. Adrien took and tried to get his eyes to focus long enough to read what was on the page. “I finished going through all the resumes and these are the ones that fit what we want. Most of them are students coming straight out of university, which, sidebar, is weird because I am less experienced then they are-”

“Well, that is entirely untrue.”

“-But, I think it’ll be better since they’re young, and still full of hope, and will probably fawn over the idea of having Adrien Agreste as their boss.”

Adrien sat back in his seat, suddenly feeling very calm, and, yet, full of energy. The moment was a reminder that he wasn’t doing this by himself. 

“Alright,” Adrien said, “I’ll contact them and set up interviews.”

“Also,” Marinette said, twiddling her thumbs. “I know I didn’t run this by you, but I did hire someone to help oversee the garment construction. Her name’s Cecile, and she said she could start next week. I know we said we weren’t going to hire people with long-standing connections in the industry, but I worked with her at… Well, you know. Gabriel fired her for something that wasn’t really her fault, and she’s actually a really amazing seamstress, and very trustworthy, and-”

“Marinette,” Adrien said, interrupting her rambling. “I trust your judgment. If you think she’s a good person to bring aboard and you’d want to work with her, then great. I’m happy to have her aboard.”

Marinette let out a breathy laugh. “Right. Yes.”

She took a few steps away before stopping in her tracks. Marinette turned on her heel quickly and stepped back to the side of the desk. She reached into the pocket of her skirt and set down a small box with a green ribbon on top. “I almost forgot. Happy birthday.”  
Adrien stared at the box for a few moments, his brain working trying to figure out the words “happy birthday” like Marinette had just said something to him in a foreign language.

“Oh,” Adrien said, the realization finally hitting him. “It is my birthday. I forgot.”

“You forgot your own birthday?”

“Well, it only happens once a year. It can pass right by you without you even noticing,” Adrien said. “Can I open it?”

“No,” Marinette responded without even missing a beat. The pair stared at each other before Marinette’s blank expression softened into a smile. “I’m kidding. Yes. Yes, of course, open it.”

Excitement getting the better of him, Adrien grabbed the box and quickly pulled the ribbon off. He lifted off the lid to find a neat row of cards inside. “Business cards?”

“Yeah,” Marinette said. “I figured you’d get good use out of them. Eventually, you’re going to have to start telling people who you are and what you do.”

Adrien looked closer at the card, smiling as he noticed the logo Marinette designed the very first day they had come to the building at the top. The first time he had seen it in print.

_ Leo Noire _

_ CEO _

_ Bonne Chances Fashion Co.  _

“Leo Noire,” Adrien asked. 

“Well, I figured with all of the other secrecy, we shouldn’t probably advertise our real names,” Marinette said. “So, happy seventeenth birthday Adrien, and happy first birthday Leo.” 

Adrien covered his mouth, hiding the fact that he was beaming with joy. The amount of thought Marinette had put into the gift made it infinitely better. Not to mention the fact that she seemed so pleased with herself. 

Adrien realized he must have waited too long to answer because Marinette’s smile fell. “Do you not like it?”

“What,” Adrien asked, panic flashing across his face. “No. No, no, no, no. No. I love it. Thank you. Really.”

Marinette visibly relaxed, the smile returning. “Good,” she said. “Oh, and you’re coming over to my house for dinner tonight. Mama and Papa cooked; Alya, Nino, some others will be there. Felix has to come, too! ” Marinette called over her shoulder. Felix didn’t even look up from his computer. “Anyway, It’s required.”

Adrien didn’t even get a chance to respond and took that as a sign that nothing he could do would get him out of dinner.  _ At least one night off would be a nice change.  _

\----------------

With the few modistes they had hired putting together prototypes of the designs Marinette had already finished, Adrien found he needed a quieter place to work. It was nearing the end of November now, and warm cups of coffee or tea became a much more frequent drink during the days, even more so than when they had just started out and he was using the caffeine as fuel during the long stretches of work hours. 

A spreadsheet was open on his computer in front of him, but at this point, he couldn’t really be sure what it was actually for, or even what he needed to do with it when it was finished. Marinette was hard at work across the table from him, too. She was switching back and forth between her sketchbook and tablet, trying to get a few more designs done to give to the patternmakers. Adrien liked having her there while he was working, especially with the two of them working together. It was a reminder of what exactly he was doing his job for. Without his work being done, Marinette’s designs would never be seen. 

Adrien took another sip of his coffee and pushed his computer aside. “So-”

“So?” Marinette put her drawing pencil down, turning her attention to him.

“We need to meet some people.”

“Ooh, I don’t think I’m in the right place at the moment to be trying to get into a relationship,” Marinette said. 

“Haha,” Adrien deadpanned. “I meant we need to start networking so that once we have a collection to sell, we have a place to sell it.”

“Okay. What do you have in mind?”

“Well, there’s an event coming up that Felix has been trying to get us invited to,” Adrien said. “It’s a fancy charity gala run by Audrey Bourgeois, but there’ll be a lot of people it would be good for us to connect with there. Felix was actually supposed to come here after he secured the invitations…”

The same moment Adrien looked down at the time on his phone, he heard the door of the cafe slam open. Adrien turned his head to see Felix storming in, followed by Chloe - who seemed just as annoyed as he was. The combination was far from good. 

Felix took a seat next to Marinette, a scowl on his face. “When you said I would have to meet with someone I already knew, it never once crossed my mind that it would have to be  _ her _ .” 

“Excuse me,” Chloe said. “I wasn’t exactly thrilled at the prospect of having to have lunch with  _ you _ , either. Adrien, why didn’t you tell me-”

“I didn’t tell either of you that you would be meeting each other, because I knew this was exactly how you would react,” Adrien said. “And, I knew that you would come storming in here to murder me, so now we can all talk this out together. Anyone want coffee?”

“No.”

“No, thank you.”

“I’m getting myself some,” Marinette said standing up from the table. “I’m thirsty, and 

well, I don’t really want to be in the middle of this.”  
Marinette passed by Adrien on the way and picked up his half-empty cup. “I’ll get you some, too.”

Adrien groaned internally as he watched her walk away, knowing that without Marinette as a witness, he probably really would get murdered by the two of them.  _ Please, hurry back. _

“If you had just asked me directly for the invitations to my mother’s gala, I would have just given them to you,” Chloe said, leaning back in her seat. “Now I’m not so sure that I want to anymore…”

“Chloe,” Adrien said slowly. “I’m sorry for making you spend five minutes in Felix’s  presence. I really do need those invites though, so can you please maybe reconsider?”

“Can you promise me that you’ll spend time with me at the dumb party,” Chloe asked. 

“Well, I wouldn’t actually be the one going-”

“No.”

“Chloe.”

Adrien sighed. “I promise I will owe you a favor. Anything you want.”

Chloe huffed. Adrien could hear the sound of her foot tapping on the ground underneath

the table. “Fine,” Chloe said. “Just make sure Felix doesn’t look like a piece of shit.”

“Felix isn’t the one going either,” Adrien said.

“What?” Felix asked.

“What?”

Adrien turned his head to see Marinette standing next to him, two full cups of coffee in  her hands. She glanced between the three of them, a confused look on her face for a moment before the realization dawned on her. 

“Wait, if you’re not going, and Felix isn’t going, does that mean-”

“Yes…”

“-That I’m going?”

Marinette lowered herself back slowly into her seat. Her eyes were trained on Adrien, a 

serious expression on her face. “Adrien?”

“Yes?”

“Adrien, I cannot be the one you send to go ask people to be nice and buy our product,” 

Marinette said. 

“Well, I can’t go, and Felix can’t go,” Adrien said. “The two of us are too recognizable, you’re the only one that no one there would have any chance of knowing.”

“What about your father?”

“Oh, he’s not going,” Chloe said. “I checked the guest list and Gabriel Agreste RSVPed no, like, the day after invitations were sent out.”  
“Well… Well, I look like I’m twelve! No one there is going to take me seriously,” Marinette said. “The most they’ll talk to me is to point me in the direction of the kid’s table!”

Chloe grabbed Adrien’s cup of coffee and took a sip. “She’s got a point there.”

Marinette glared at her. “Even if you would get recognized, I’m still the worst option out of the three of us.”

“Marinette,” Adrien said as calmly as possible. “I need you to be the one to do this. Chloe is going to be there, and she’ll help get you introduced to the right people. Right, Chloe?”

Chloe let out a “hmpf,” but still nodded. 

Adrien knew that nothing he could say would calm her nerves, but still, he wanted to reassure her as much as he could. “We’ll make sure you’re as prepared as you can be. Just trust me, okay?”

Marinette let out a deep sigh, closing her eyes for a moment. “Okay.”

Adrien reached out across the table and took her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. She managed to look him in the eye, and though she still seemed a little annoyed with him, Marinette had an added look of determination. 

“She’s still right, though,” Felix spoke up for the first time since sitting down. “We are going to have to do something about her… baby face.”

“I think-” Marinette said, pondering it for a moment. “I think I know someone who can help with that.”


	12. Chapter Twelve

Marinette sputtered as eyeshadow fell from the brush and onto her face.    


“Hold still,  _ poussin _ , or else it’s just going to keep falling like that,” Marina said, grabbing onto Marinette’s chin to keep her in place. “You’re pretty enough to be a model, but you should stick to designing. No real makeup artist would want to have you in their chair if you behave like this.”

“This is why I just put on eyeliner every day,” Marinette grumbled as she shifted her in her seat yet again.

“And, that is why you look like a twelve-year-old, which is what we’re trying to avoid. Now, close your eyes,” Marina said. Marinette focused on the feel of the makeup brush as Marina blended the colors together, and on the sound of her voice as she continued speaking. “You know, none of the male designers in that room are going to take you seriously as a woman, and even less if you look like a  _ young _ woman. They will notice your dress and your makeup first, and by the time you actually walk up to them, they will already have made an assumption about you. So, woo them with your good looks and then prove that that’s not the only thing that you have that is better than they do.”

Marinette sat in silence as Marina put on the rest of her makeup. She wouldn’t exactly have called her words of advice encouraging, but Marinette still felt spurred on by them. It was anger more than anything else. 

“There,” Marina said, and Marinette, eyes still closed, could feel her backing away. Marinette turned and looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. “So, what do you think?”

“I do not look like myself,” Marinette said, almost in awe. 

“Then I think I’ve done a pretty good job,” Marina said. 

Marinette and Marina both tried to squeeze out of the small bathroom in Adrien’s attic apartment, but Marinette turned back one more time to look at herself in the mirror. The smokey eye, the red lipstick, and contouring made her feel almost disconnected with herself. She felt as though she were now hiding under a mask of false confidence and experience. 

_ They’ll listen to me now, _ Marinette thought, though it was something she hated to admit. 

“Dress?” Marina asked as Marinette walked out into the main room. 

Alya was sitting on the couch and quickly put her phone back in her pocket as she stood up. “I’m on it.” 

Alya walked over to where the dress bag was hanging on the wall. Marina took it from her as Marinette started to get undressed, discarding her shoes, jeans, and t-shirt on the floor. Both of them helped Marinette step into the pink dress, and she tried her best not to step on the full skirt as it was laid delicately out on the ground before her. Marinette bent down grabbing onto the bodice and pulling till the waistline was resting on her hips. She discarded her bra along with the rest of her clothes and placed her hands on her hips as Alya started fiddling with the corset style back, effectively trapping her in the layers and layers of fabric until someone helped her take it off again. 

A knock came at the front door, and it opened a crack, just a hint of blond hair peeking through. “Uh, sorry,” Adrien said. “Is it okay if I come in?”

Alya finished tying the satin laces into a bow and called to Adrien. “Yup, come in!”

The door opened all the way and both Adrien and Felix stepped inside. As soon as he stepped in the room, Adrien’s full attention to Marinette, eyes moving from her hair to the hem of her skirt. Marinette wished loudly in her head that he would say something nice about the way she looked, a small compliment, but his words seemed to be able to reach no farther then the tip of his tongue. Adrien stuttered and stared and stuttered and stared…

Felix, however, had not looked up from his phone, and only took a two-second glance before saying, “It’s fine.”

Alya stepped back, joining Adrien at his side and taking up the exact same intense stare as him. Both pairs of eyes on her made Marinette want close in on herself like a turtle. Her hands were lost in the pink fabric of her skirt as she fiddled with it, probably causing it to wrinkle. Alya hit Adrien on the should much hard then she probably should have and gave him a harsh glare. 

“What,” Adrien hissed, becoming very defensive. 

“You’re supposed to say something nice to her, idiot boy,” Marina said. 

It seemed it took as much time for Adrien to process her words as it took Marina to pull out a cigarette and light it. He shook his head frantically and managed to step away from Alya as it seemed she was preparing for another strike. 

“You-” Adrien said, pausing for a moment. “You look gorgeous, Marinette.”  
Marinette felt her cheeks flush, probably turning as pink as her dress. She whispered a small thank you and looked down at the floor.

Marina cleared her throat, shaking her head. “You really are quite the poet, Adrien.”  
“We’re going to be late if we don’t leave now,” Felix said. “I don’t want Chloe yelling at me for not getting you there on time.”  
“Then why don’t you go pull the car around,” Adrien said, quirking an eyebrow.

Felix sighed and started heading out of the room. “This the last time I’m acting as her chauffeur. Hire someone next time.”  
Alya walked over and kissed Marinette lightly on both cheeks, careful not to ruin her makeup. “You look stunning. Nino and I will be watching the red carpet news coverage to see if we can spot you.” 

“I hope I don’t have to be on camera,” Marinette said. “Especially if my parents happen to have the TV on.”   


“We’ll be covering for you,” Alya said. “Also, Marinette, try, and have some fun for the rest of us. You’re going to the most exclusive party in the city.”   


“Somehow that makes it all the worse,” Marinette sighed. 

Alya laughed and took a hold of Marinette’s hand. They both turned to Adrien and started walking towards the door. “Come on, sunshine. Let’s help her down the stairs so she doesn’t fall down them.”  
They made it out of the room, though Marinette felt as though she had to squeeze out of the door. Once she got to the stairs, she was given a different problem. Even with her two friends helping her, Marinette had no clue how she would walk down the stairs without tripping. 

“Ugh, I should have made something with less fabric,” Marinette said, throwing her head back. 

“No worries, we got you,” Alya said, squeezing her hand and flashing a smile. 

Marinette felt the fabric at the back of her dress move and craned her neck around to see Adrien crouched on the ground, laying out the skirt meticulously. He looked up, smiling at her. “Just making sure it won’t try and get caught under your heels on the way down.”

Luckily, they made it down both flights of stairs without incident, and Marinette let out a sigh of relief when the reached the sidewalk outside. She shivered in the sleeveless dress, the cool night air conspiring to keep her huddled with her hands stuck under her arms, slouched at and not at all regal or confident looking. 

Marinette stiffened as she felt a silky, satin fabric draped over her shoulders. The extra layer made her relax a little, but chills still ran down her spin as hands moved along her arms to smooth out the shawl. 

“Sorry, thought you might need it,” Adrien said from behind her. 

Marinette turned to face him. “Thank you,” She said softly. “Really, not just for the shawl and the making sure I don’t fall, but the… The fact that you believe in me and are trusting me to do this.” 

“I do trust you,” Adrien said. “More than anyone.”

They remained silent for a moment. Adrien stepped around Marinette to the front of her but didn’t let go of the fabric of the shawl, his hands lingering for a moment until his face lit up.

“I almost completely forgot,” Adrien reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small box. “This isn’t a gift because I don’t trust you. It’s just something in case you need me.”

Marinette took the box from him and opened it. Inside was a small black earpiece. 

“It’ll go completely unnoticed, and I’ll be wearing one, too,” Adrien said, turning his head and tapping his left ear. Marinette saw the device now that he had pointed it out to her, and was surprised she hadn’t noticed it before. “So, if there’s an emergency, or you just want to crack jokes about snobby rich people, I’ll be there.”  
“It’s perfect,” Marinette said, closing the box and tucking it in her small clutch purse. “I feel better about this whole thing already.”

“That was the aim,” Adrien said. “Oh, and, one more thing.”  
Adrien produced another box from his pocket, and Marinette found herself feeling extremely jealous at the amount of room in his pockets, but was soon distracted by the second present that he handed to her, this one tied with a red ribbon.

“It’s not original, but it is necessary,” Adrien said. 

Business cards. The box had business cards inside. Marinette laughed and felt giddy at the fact that she was holding something so official, and important, and her’s in her hand. 

“Elle  de Bondieu?” Marinette asked. “Where did you come up with that?” 

Adrien cleared his throat, a sigh smile appearing on his face. “Uh…  _ coccinelle, demoiselle, bête à bon Dieu." _

_ “Coccinelle, demoiselle, vole jusqu'aux cieux,”  _ Marinette finished. She rubbed her thumb along the thick, cardstock paper. “I love it.” 

“Good,” Adrien said nodding. “I was a little worried you wouldn’t.” 

“Well, I think it’s only fair that I go with whatever name you give me. Even if I didn’t like,” Marinette said. “You put up with the name I gave to you.”  
“Yes, but that’s because it’s a perfect name,” Adrien said. They both laughed, and Marinette dropped her head down on Adrien’s shoulder, though hadn’t meant to. She hadn’t realized he had been standing so close. 

The sound of the car horn honking startled both of them, and they jumped back away from each other. Felix rolled down the window and leaned over. “Let’s go. We’re running out of time.”  
“Right,” Adrien said, rushing to open the backseat door of the car. He offered Marinette a hand in and they both tried to get all of the dress’s fabric inside without crushing it. Adrien bent down once Marinette was situated. “ _Bonne chance_ , Elle.” 

Adrien shut the door, giving her one last confidence-boosting smile. Marinette couldn’t help but feel flustered by it, fiddling with her dress, eyes downcast. 

“You two are so weird,” Felix said from the front seat as he started driving.

“What do you mean by that,” Marinette said, the blush on her face dissipating as her expression turned to one of confusion.

Felix signed and glanced at her momentarily in the rearview mirror. “Nothing. I don’t mean anything by it.”


	13. Chapter 13

“Wait for a moment,” Felix said as he opened the driver’s door and stepped outside. The sounds that poured in through the opening were almost deafening, and then died out again as the door slammed shut. Marinette was left to sit frozen in her seat, her heart pounding as she imagined stepping out of the car and onto the red carpet before she had even done it. It felt like hours before Felix made his way around the car and reached her. When the cheering and loud music appeared once again, Marinette stared out at the sights, but tried her best to just focus on the one thing that was right in front of her. Felix’s outstretched hand waited, almost impatiently, for her to take it. 

Felix looked down at her, his eyebrows furrowed. He gestured again. “I said wait for a  moment, not forever.”

As Marinette took his hand and stepped out of the car, she was surprised by the slight squeeze of reassurance he gave her, and Felix leaned in to whisper in her ear. “Just breathe.” 

Once Marinette was completely of the car, her dress no longer squished, Felix dropped her hand sending her forward into the crowd that was headed into the gala. Marinette turned back to look at him, but just he rolled his eyes and tapped his ear. She was confused for a moment on what message he was trying to send her, but Marinette reached into her purse, remembering the small electronic device Adrien had given her so they could stay in touch. Once the device was secure, she turned it on and cleared her throat.

“Adrien?” Marinette asked. She started walking towards the doors, stumbling a little on her first few steps. “Adrien are you there?”   


There were a few muffled sounds on the other side of the line, and a little static, but soon it began to clear. _ “-On. I think- got this thing working,” _ Adrien’s voice came in and out.  _ “There. That should do it. Can you hear me, Marinette?”  _

“Yes, I can hear you,” Marinette said, raising her hand to cover her mouth in an effort to suppress the giggle that was trying to escape. “And, you can hear me?”

_ “Loud and clear,”  _ Adrien answered.  _ “Are you ready for this? Chloe should be meeting your right inside. Just follow her lead.”  _

“That’s great,” Marinette said a hushed voice. “I just have to… actually get inside first.” 

The idea of simply walking up to the doors was a simple one in theory, but in practice meant passing through a crowd of people and cameras. It was too late to turn back though, Felix and the car were already gone. If flight did win out in this situation, she’d have to run, which in heels and this dress, probably wasn’t the best idea. 

_ “I’m with you,” _ Adrien said.  _ “Just imagine I’m walking by your side the whole way.”  _

Marinette nodded to herself and took a deep, slightly shaking breath, as she placed one foot in front of the other. No one paid much attention to her as she walked. She was sure she might end up in the background of a few photos, but it’s not like anyone was clamoring to take her picture. Still, Marinette tried her best to smile. The grip she had on her clutch purse, however, was strong enough to make her knuckles turn white. 

Marinette handed over her invitation when she reaches the door, and was let inside without issue. It made her think again about how different she looks now. On any other day, Marinette wouldn’t be allowed to step foot in a place this fancy, or walk amongst some of the most famous people in Paris. She was hidden, disguised, playing a character she is not even sure she has any grasp of just yet. Marinette didn’t know how to be Elle. 

_ “Are you okay,”  _ Adrien’s voice said, coming through her earpiece.  _ “I can hear you breathing? Is everything alright?” _

“I’m fine,” Marinette whispered. “Still a little nervous, but doing okay.” 

“Okay,” Adrien said, his voice sounding a little wary. “I just texted Chloe. She should be up ahead waiting for you.”   


“Right, okay,” Marinette said, peering above the crowd, and soon caught a glimpse of a shining gold dress and a scowl that was completely recognizable. “I see her.” 

“You’re late,” Chloe said as soon as Marinette approached her.

“By like three minutes.” 

“Excuses, excuses, Dupain-Cheng. I’ve arranged for you to be sitting next to me, but we’re just acquaintances, okay? So, make that apart of whatever you’ve got going on… here.” 

Marinette looked down at her dress, her eyes widening. “Does it look bad?”   


“Honestly…” Chloe looked her up and down a frown on her. “I’m trying to find something bad to say about it, but I’m coming up empty.” 

Marinette couldn’t help but smile at Chloe’s almost compliment. Chloe just rolled her eyes in response and grabbed onto Marinette’s hand. “Come on, let’s just go inside.” 

The table was filled mostly by people Marinette didn’t know, but could recognize. She didn’t really contribute to the conversations, but laughed along at jokes when it seemed like she was directed to. For the majority of the first part of that evening, Marinette kept her eyes on the plate in front of her, slowly taking bites of the food that had been in front of her. This meal, she guessed, cost more than what she could eat in a month at the bakery, and, Marinette found herself wondering if the money raised tonight would even surpass what it cost for each individual meal in total. The thought that it wouldn’t like to be the case eventually made her push her plate away, and, even then, she felt guilty for wasting it. 

“I’m surprised by the crowd tonight,” One of Marinette’s tablemates remarked. “There’s a few people I did not expect to see showing their faces…” 

“You can’t expect all the beggars at the feast to be of good taste,” A woman with what had to be the sharpest cheekbones Marinette had ever seen on a person said. She turned up her nose and took a sip of the wine. 

“Still,” The first woman sighed and leaned over towards Chloe. “I would think your mother would have enough sense to keep them out of our ranks.” 

“Come now, where is your sense of altruism? This night is not simply about enjoying each other’s company, but giving to those who are not fortunate enough to be here drinking with us. The least we could do for those poor souls is endure the obvious presence of our lessers for a few hours.” Now, this person, Marinette knew exactly who they were. Jean Yves Basset was probably the second most well-known name when it came to the realm of modeling. Even before Marinette had been collecting magazine clippings of Adrien, she’d been fawning over his photoshoots. 

“Besides,” Jean continued, looking across the table to where Marinette was sitting. She stiffened under his gaze as he raised his glass to his lips and took a slow sip. He exhaled as he lowered the glass. “The new company we have outshines any of them. What is your name, mademoiselle?”

Marinette felt as though she were still unable to speak. She glanced over to Chloe, who just raised an eyebrow in annoyance, clearly telling her to figure out how to get her power of speech back on her own. “I’m- uh… M- Elle. Elle de Bondieu.” 

_ “Sounds good coming from you,”  _ Adrien said in her ear, blocking out Jean’s next few words. 

Marinette furrowed her brows and leaned forward. “Pardon?”  
“Uh, she’s here because she’s my personal guest. She’s a designer as well, made the necklace I’m wearing. I just had to show her talents off to everyone else.” Chloe said, as she kicked Marinette underneath the table. Marinette shot her a glare, but Chloe remained perfectly composed. 

_ “Just relax, Mari,” _ Adrien’s voice whispered.  _ “I can hear you breathing.”  _

“She must be very talented then-” Jean nodded, and Marinette felt like her skin was burning under his intense gaze. “-To receive such praise from a Bourgeois.” 

“You know I only give it where it’s due,” Chloe answered. 

The speaker on stage thanked those attending, and the crowd erupted in resounding applause. Marinette turned her attention to the front of the room and clapped along with everyone else. Her skin still felt aflame, and her eyes drifted back to Jean, who was still looking at her with the same stare. She smiled at him, hoping that would be the end, but Jean raised his glass to her and took a sip, the whole time never letting their gazes unlock. 

Marinette eventually forced herself to turn away, and became determined to keep her attention on the speaker. She couldn’t leave the table fast enough by the time it was over, and Chloe went chasing after her, grabbing her by the arm just as she was about to leave the room.

“Where are you going,” She asked in a harsh whisper. “We need to talk to people now.”

“I-I have to go to the bathroom,” Marinette said nervously. 

Chloe groaned in annoyance and just pulled her back inside. “If you’re going to the bathroom in that dress, you’ll need help, and I’m not doing that for you. Just hold it.”

Marinette just had to let herself be pulled along as they made it back into the room. She didn’t know where she was going, just allowed herself to move from group to group. People talked to her when they were directed to, not wanting to up the gala host’s daughter, the person who could probably turn them out of high society with just a snap of her finger. Marinette explained who she was and handed them a business card when she felt she needed to. This wasn’t really meant to be a networking event, but, to her surprise, some people were intrigued by her. It must have just been the way Chloe was talking her up. 

Eventually, they made their way to a group with a familiar face. Jean smiled brightly as  they approached, and stepped back to make room in their circle. “Ah, good to see you again, Miss Bourgeois, Miss de Bondieu.” 

“Sorry it took so long for us to catch back up with you,” Chloe said. “You know how my mother wants me to greet everyone. It’s tedious really.” 

“I’m sure,” Jean says. “But, everyone adores you so much it really is a must.”

Marinette tried to hide her look of confusion and amusement, and Adrien’s voice came through again, voicing her thoughts. “Let me guess what you’re thinking,  _ “People… adore Chloe?” _

Clearly, Marinette wasn’t able to stifle her laughter well enough. The other in the group gave her odd looks. Marinette had to cover her mouth as she flushed with embarrassment. “I’m sorry, forgive me,” She said. “I just thought of something funny that happened… earlier.”

“Perhaps you’d want to enlighten us on what it is that was so funny,” Jean said. 

“No, no.” Marinette shook her head. “I’m afraid that’s my secret.” 

Jean seemed almost baffled by her. He brushed his dark brown hair out of the way and took a step closer to her. Marinette reeled, almost stumbling backwards, surprised by his forwardness even for the French. Jean took a deep breath and turned to Chloe, a sly smile appearing on his face. “Miss Bourgeois, if you have other guests you need to attend to, I’d be happy to keep your friend company.” 

“That would be wonderful,” Chloe said, clapping her hands together. She leaned in, whispering in Marinette’s ear. “You know his father is almost as powerful as Gabriel Agreste. Convince him to invest in you.”

Marinette was just about to ask how exactly she should do that, but Chloe was already wrapping her arm around the crook of Jean’s elbow and floating off towards the next person she needed to wow in order to please her mother. It didn’t take long for her to figure it out though. 

Flirt. She needed to flirt with Jean Yves Basset.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while, hasn't it? I'm so sorry this took so long to post. I've been losing motivation a lot lately and distracting myself with other projects. I hope it was worth the wait though! Please leave kudos or a comment I'd really appreciate it!


	14. Chapter Fourteen

Marinette had her hand resting Jean’s forearm not even five seconds later as he whisked her away towards the dance floor. The dance looked somewhat complicated, the kind of thing she might trip over her two left feet doing. Things could go badly from here, but it seemed like Marinette was already failing to do, as Chloe had said, “convince him to invest in her.” She had barely managed to speak a word, only flash a small smile when he looked at her and maybe bat her eyelashes. 

Now, they were standing in the middle of the room in full view of everyone else. The arm that she had been resting her hand on moved and Jean pressed his palm against her back. He grabbed onto her hand, raising it in the air so they were in a waltz position. 

“You’re supposed to put your hand on my shoulder now,” Jean said, whispering as he glanced around them. 

Marinette realized that he was incredibly close, and willed herself to unfreeze. She leaned back, allowing enough space to keep their hands connected. “Sorry,” She said. Marinette reached up and rested her hand lightly on Jean’s shoulder, giving him another awkward smile. If she had to use her “feminine wiles” to her advantage, so could at least rely on her clumsiness for a cute factor. God, this entire thing felt wrong. “I’m not used to this. I’ve never gotten the opportunity to come to something like this before.”   


“Well, say the word and I’m sure I can help you convince Chloe Bourgeois to invite you to these kinds of things more often,” Jean said. 

Marinette giggled. Really giggled. School girl giggled. “Thank you, I’d really appreciate that.”

_ “What’s with that voice you’re using?” _

Oh. 

Marinette stumbled, almost falling into Jean as she stopped suddenly and he kept going. He turned around a confused smile on his face. “Are you alright?”

“Yes,” Marinette said, she was still slightly frozen from the shocking reminder that Adrien was still with her. She forced herself to shake it off. “I think my dress go caught on something.”

Marinette grabbed on the skirt, pretending to look for any tears in the fabric. She hadn’t expected Jean to walk over and kneel down by the small train of her skirt, smoothing the fabric so it was laying out behind her. The entire time, his eyes were locked on her face. 

“We wouldn't’ want you to trip,” Jean said, quirking an eyebrow. “Would we?”

_ “Who is this guy?”  _ Marinette heard Adrien’s voice again, a slight edge to his tone.  _ “Marinette, maybe we should go find Chloe again- Hey!”  _

Marinette’s eyebrows furrowed as static came through the earpiece, and she turned her head away from Jean so he wouldn’t see the expression on her face. She reached up, trying to make it look like she was scratching her ear, preparing to just take it out and get rid of the distraction. 

“ _ Marinette, do not leave Jean’s side,”  _ A much harsher sounding voice came through just as she was about to turn it off. Marinette guessed that the static and scuffle she had heard was Felix grappling with Adrien for the mic, and clearly, he had won.  _ “He has substantial influence in his father’s company, something we could use to our advantage. Just keep going.”  _

Even though she knew they couldn't see it, Marinette nodded her head with renewed determination. Jean had stood back up to his feet. Marinette immediately wrapped her arm around the crook of his elbow, standing so their sides were pressed against each other. Jean seemed to welcome the gesture, placing his opposite hand onto of her own. 

“So, tell me more about your designs,” Jean said. “I’m guessing that is what Chloe was after by leaving you with me.”

“How direct,” Marinette said. “I appreciate not having to try and bring it up casually myself.” 

“I thought I would save you the trouble.” Jean smiled. Marinette felt he smiled entirely too much. “Have you been designing for long?” 

“Not professionally,” Marinette said, shaking her head. “Up until recently it was something I did more for fun, or…” Marinette paused, deciding how much real information she could give out. “I’ve had a few internships in my day, but there wasn’t really designing involved in those.” 

“Then I suppose someone you worked for previously finally recognized your talent?” Jean asked. 

Marinette couldn't help but laugh. “Not exactly. Someone just thought bringing me on, a designer with no other experience, no formal training, no degree, was worth the risk. I thought the same about him.” 

“Him?” Jean raised an eyebrow, and Marinette stilled. It probably wasn’t a good idea to mention other men around. 

“My partner- Business partner,” Marinette said. “Leo Noire. He had just enough to lose by gambling on me.” 

Jean stopped walking, stepping straight in front of her and bending down so their eyes were level with each other. Marinette leaned away, not liking how close he had gotten to her, but it only made him lean forward more. “I see. You admire him a lot, I think” Jean said. Standing back to his full height, he took his place at her side again. “I’ll have to meet him sometime.” 

“Jean!” Someone shouted from across the room, and Marinette could see a hand shooting up above the crowd, waving.

“Ah, forgive me,” Jean said, stepping away from her. “It seems I’m being flagged down now. I’ll have to be going, unfortunately.” 

“That’s alright,” Marinette said. “I understand having other obligations.” 

“Then might you give me your business card,” Jean asked. “I’d love the chance to talk to you more. Maybe see a portfolio?” 

Marinette smiled brightly and reached into her clutch purse. “That would be wonderful!” 

She handed him the card and Jean slipped it into his breast pocket, patting the space just above his heart. “Thank you. I look forward to seeing you again, Mademoiselle Bondieu.” 

He walked backward a few steps, somehow not hitting anyone behind him. Marinette watched as he walked off and disappeared into crowded, and one she couldn’t see him anymore, Marinette let out a sigh of relief. 

_ “Is the worst over now?” _ Adrien asked, probably having had recovered the mic from Felix. 

“What, were you worried?” Marinette said in a whisper. 

_ “No,” _ Adrien said a little too quickly.  _ “You should go find someone else to talk to… Maybe a woman now… Get a variety of options.”  _

“I’m not picking up food at the grocery store,” Marinette said. She craned her neck looking around the room. She couldn't see Chloe and didn’t feel comfortable just barging into a group of people. 

Marinette stopped moving as she looked straight at the door to the hall. Her eyes widened, and a chill ran down her spine. 

“Adrien,” Marinette spoke slowly. “I have a problem.” 

_ “What? Marinette? What?”  _ Adrien asked frantically. _ “What’s going on?” _

“I think I’m going to get noticed,” Marinette said, taking a deep, shaky breath. “Gabriel Agreste just walked in.” 

The other side of the line was silent. Marinette waited for something anything, but it was clear that she had to get out of the center of the room. Trying not to just run, Marinette made her way to the edge of the room and ducked behind a column. “Adrien,” Marinette said again. “Adrien, what do I do?”

_ “Marinette go out to the back garden.”  _ Felix had the mic again.  _ “There’s a terrace directly outside the west side of the room. Wait there.”  _

Marinette looked out the window next to her, where there was a large stone platform with stairs leading down. She had to guess that this was it. Trying to open the door as silently as possible, Marinette stepped outside and was instantly met with the cold. She shivered, but remained outside, shutting the door behind her. 

Peering back in through the window, she could see Gabriel Agreste standing where she previously had been. Marinette didn’t want to know what would have happened if he had spotted her, and thankfully she wouldn’t find out. 

Stepping away from the window, Marinette wrapped her arms around her chest and leaned her right side up against the wall. She could still see into the party from here, and everyone looked so warm and happy. Felix had told her to wait here, but she desperately wanted to start walking somewhere, be it a cafe or even just a convenience store where she could get something warm to drink. 

Marinette sighed, but the sound quickly turned into a muffled yelp. “Ah-” 

A hand had covered her mouth, an arm wrapped around her waist. Marinette felt herself being pulled against the chest of someone behind her, and she couldn't even scream. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry, this one was a little shorter than I originally intended. I decided to split this chapter into two parts because I wanted to post something for it before I got totally distracted with finals. hope you enjoyed it and I promise I'll be back!


	15. Chapter 15

There were plenty of times in her life that Marinette had felt afraid- scared out of her mind, unable to get control over the shaking of her body- but now there was no reason why her flight or fight response shouldn’t kick in, so she couldn’t understand why it didn’t.

She stood there frozen in the arms of a person whose face she couldn’t see. Their hand covered her mouth and would stifle any cries she tried to make, but Marinette didn’t want to scream out. She didn’t know what had possessed her, but she reached up, placing her hand on top of the one that was pressed against her stomach. An answer formulated in her head as they quickly took her hand in her own and squeezed it tightly. Marinette allowed herself to look back as her mouth was uncovered and Adrien raised his finger to his lips, a silent gesture telling her to remain quiet. 

Adrien pulled Marinette backward into a dark corner where the light from the sconce lanterns didn’t reach. It wasn’t a moment too soon, as the sounds from the party indoors grew louder as the doors opened and two figures slipped outside for a more private conversation. 

“I thought you said he would be here.” Marinette recognized Gabriel Agreste’s voice immediately and found herself gripping Adrien’s hand tighter. She could feel his whole body tensing up behind her and he squeezed her hand back just as tightly as she was. 

“I’m sorry, sir,” Nathalie said. “I was told that Chloe Bourgeois had requested invitations personally for someone, but it’s possible that they weren’t for Adrien.” 

“This is getting ridiculous,” Gabriel said with a sneer. “It’s been weeks since I’ve seen him. Every day he’s gone I have less of a chance of getting him back.” 

There was silence for a moment, and Marinette thought that it might now be over. Gabriel and Nathalie would go back inside and she and Adrien could leave without looking back. 

“What about Marinette Dupain Cheng?” Gabriel asked. Marinette let out a squeak in surprise and Adrien’s hand clamped over her mouth again. Pulling her down with him, Adrien sunk down to his knees so they were even more concealed in the corner of the terrace. Marinette wondered if Gabriel looked over now, would he be able to see them in the dark? She could barely breathe at the thought that he had heard her just now, but he didn’t look over and continued speaking to Nathalie. “She hasn’t contacted you again? I thought I’d asked you to keep some of her things out of the box when she came to collect them.”

“No, sir,” Nathalie said, shaking her head. “Everything was returned to her. I’m sorry it was my mistake.”

“Find a way to get her back here,” Gabriel snapped. “If we can’t get her to convince Adrien to come home, then she might be a nice bargaining chip.” 

From where she was crouched down, Marinette could hear the sound of Gabriel’s shoes hitting the ground, and the door opening again into the party. Silence fell once more as they were shut outside and left alone again on the terrace. Adrien’s hands released from her completely and he stood to his feet. This entire time, Marinette hadn’t been able to see his face, but it was covered with a stony cold expression, completely blank and devoid of emotion. 

Adrien reached his hand out to her to help her to her feet, which Marinette took, but as she stood her eyes never left his. He wasn’t even staring back at her, but Marinette couldn’t stop looking at him. She was waiting for him to say something, anything, but Adrien remained silent and stoic for a period of time that seemed like hours even if it was only a minute. 

He leaned into the light a little, glancing back and forth before stepping out completely. Adrien’s hand was still connected with Marinette’s. She quickly picked up the skirt of her dress as they started walking quickly towards the staircase down to the garden as to not trip over it. Adrien spoke in a soft voice, completley contrasting the look on his face. “Let’s go.” 

Marinette followed him without resistance. As they made their way down into the garden, and further into darkness, she could feel herself start to relax. It was better to be away from there, from the party and people she didn’t want to talk to again. 

She almost stumbled as Adrien stopped walking and turned around to face her. They were standing under a canopy of trees, and she could just barely see his face, mostly obscured by shadow. 

“Are you alright?” Adrien asked in the same soft tone as before. “I’m sorry if I scared you before. I saw them coming-”

“It’s alright,” Marinette said, cutting him off before he could launch into a nervous rant. That was more her thing. “I kind of knew it was you.” 

Marinette was acutely aware of the fact that Adrien was leaning down closer to her. It was the only reason why she could see him so well now. He was almost unreadable and it scared her. She wanted to know what was going through his head, and never understood how he could hide so much of feelings. Well, how was actually obvious, considering his years in the spotlight always with a smile on his face. Marinette wanted to understand why, though. She wanted him to show her what he was too afraid to share with anyone else. 

“I didn’t realize you were coming here, though. Felix was suddenly on the line-” Marinette said, pausing. “Thank you, though, you didn’t have to risk that.”

“Risk? Risk what?” Adrien asked, putting on a swaggering air and a smile that, Marinette knew, was surprisingly real. “Hardly a risk for me.”   
Marinette wanted to laugh, too. She wanted to joke with him like he was some hero who’d risked death by coming here for her, but despite the atmosphere that the location, and attire, and carefree attitude Adrien exhibited there was still a deep discomfort that had settled in her stomach. 

“Can we... “ Marinette trailed off, unsure of how to exactly phrase her request. “Can we take a breath for a moment? That was close to disaster and-”

Marinette was cut off as Adrien wrapped one of his arms around her shoulders and pulled her into his chest. She turned at the last second so her face was smushed against him, but he became hidden to her again as he rested his chin atop her head. Marinette’s hand gripped his bicep, fingers curling around the fabric of his button up shirt. Her breathing was shaky, and she feared he had felt the temor rush through her as he held her tighter. 

“Did you really go back to the offices alone?” Adrien asked. The question didn’t feel out of the blue, but his asking still startled her. 

“Yes,” Marinette answered simply. “The day Felix came to Paris and took me home.”

“He dropped you off and left you there?”

“No- Well, yes, but he did take me home, too,” Marinette said. “You don’t have to worry about it. Nothing bad happened.”

Nothing bad except she had felt like a cornered mouse staring down a snake. 

Adrien sighed. 

“Did you…” Marinette felt unsure to ask him how he was feeling. He might not give her a straight answer. “Are you okay? I know you probably weren’t expecting to see him.”   
It took a minute for Adrien to answer. The gears were probably turning in his mind to come up with something that didn’t seem too serious. “Seeing his face isn’t pleasant,” He said eventually. “I still see his face every where practically every day. It’s hard to avoid.” 

Adrien pulled back suddenly, his face clearly in view again, hands still pressed on top of her shoulder blades, and Marinette still held tightly to his arms. “I’m never going to speak to him again. Never. And, I don’t want you to have to either, so don’t go anywhere near Gabriel Agreste.”

Marinette already knew she would avoid it if she could. Being in the same room alone with him, as she had been twice already, was, as Adrien put it, not pleasant. 

“Marinette.” Her name felt weighted coming out of his mouth. “Promise me, if he comes near you again, I’ll be the first person you go to, right?”

“I promise,” Marinette said, giving the words the seriousness they deserved. 

At that moment, Marinette became acutely aware of the awkward tension surrounding them. Adrien was close to her,  _ so _ close. She forced herself to release her grip on the fabric of his shirt and leaned away from him slightly. Whether he understood her intention or not, Adrien stood back up to his full height, and once again Marinette had to crane her neck to look up at him. 

“We should get out here,” Adrien said, and the playful air came back almost instantly. “Before we’re discovered.” 

Marinette nodded her head steadily, and matched his mock sincerity. “Take me away from here at once.” 

“As you wish, My lady,” Adrien said, stepping back and lowering himself into a dramatic bow. 

As he reached up and took her hand, Marinette couldn’t help but break her terrible act and giggled, covering her mouth with her hand in order to hide the redness of her cheeks, though, if he could see the bright color in the dark she wasn’t sure. 

“See, your laugh is adorable,” Adrien said, and without warning, started pulling Marinette along by the hand he held. “But, only when it’s not being used to flirt with models who were my rivals in the industry for years.” 

Marinette almost stopped walking as she realized the meaning of his words. She scoffed. “Oh, please don’t remind me that I did that.”

“You think I’m going to let you forget it?” Adrien asked, mocking the high pitched giggle she had let out earlier. They made their way to the back of the garden, a large metal gate the only thing between them and the street. It swung open easily, and Marinette and Adrien stepped out onto the cobblestone. “Maybe we can do something to avoid that in the future.”

“Like what?” Marinette asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“Like… Maybe we could say that Leo Noire and Elle de Bondieu are dating?” Adrien reached to the behind his head with his free hand, scratching at the nape of his neck. “Business partners in a committed relationship would surely stop people from pestering you like that.” 

“You really think the fact that I’m in a committed relationship would stop people from flirting with me?” Marinette asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Right…” Adrien said. “You’re right… it wouldn’t work… You’re too pretty for people not to flirt with you.”

Marinette wanted to make him stop and answer some questions specifically about that one statement. He couldn’t really mean it, could he? It was probably just the dress, or the makeup. She just looked gorgeous now, and any kind of compliment like that wouldn’t be made tomorrow when she was back to looking like her normal self. 

They had to get to the main road in order to find a cab. Marinette had already taken off her heels and was carrying them at that point, but Adrien had insisted she not walk home. He had climbed into the back of the car with her, her poofy dress taking up most of the space. Once the car had started moving, Marinette’s head drooped and fell against Adrien’s shoulder.

“You doing okay there?” Adrien asked. 

Marinette mumbled in response. She felt tired now, too tired. The night had been entirely too much. “I want to go home and take a shower,” She grumbled. “And, I want to take this makeup off.”

Her eyes had almost fell completely shut, but she could feel Adrien reaching up, and see the tip of his thumb, brushing a stray, mascara encrusted eyelash off the tip of her nose. “Soon.” He said.

“There’s makeup wipes in my bag,” Marinette said stifling a yawn. “Can you get them for me?”

Marinette felt Adrien pulling her clutch purse and heels from her grasp. The heard the sound of the bag opening and a package getting ripped open. She felt something wet touch her face, and sighed, relaxing more as Adrien started gently rubbing the makeup wipe across her face. 

“Do you want me to get your eyes, too?” Adrien asked softly.

“Yes, please,” Marinette mumbled. She let out a few annoyed grumbling sounds as he went through the process of wiping away her eyeliner and shadow, but his touch was gentle and careful, making sure to not sting her eyes. 

“There,” Adrien said, after a while wiping away the last few smudges with his thumb. “All done. Better?”

Marinette simply groaned and nodded, curling further into his side. She was trying her hardest not to fall asleep there, but the seat of the cab felt entirely too comfy, though, probably not as comfortable as her sleep deprived brain was imagining it was. Staying awake was getting more and more difficult with every passing second, and she heard Adrien’s voice as she drifted off, swearing she could feel his lips being pressed against her forehead before completely falling asleep.

_ “Coccinelle, demoiselle, bête à bon Dieu… _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wrote this to willow by taylor swift and i think it shows 🙃 anyway i hoped you enjoyed it!


	16. Chapter Sixteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wasn't going to post this yet but... as a treat...

As soon as he arrived back at the offices, Adrien collapsed in the swivel chair, letting out a deep sigh. He had just gotten back from dropping Marinette off at Alya’s place, carrying her and her pink, puffy dress to bed. The journey from the cab to Alya’s bedroom had been hell for his back, not to mention the exceptionally fast pace he had been running at before then, trying to reach the gala venue before Marinette was found out. 

Adrien had left the nearby spot where he and Felix had been staking out the party as soon as Marinette had said his father was there. He had never felt such fear in his life. It would be one thing if _he_ were in that position, but he wouldn’t dare let his father anywhere near Marinette — especially now that he knew about Gabriel’s plans to draw Adrien back into his clutches using her. 

Clutching the arms of the chair with fingertips digging into the lining, Adrien snarled, eyebrows furrowing at the thought of that happening.

“You seem rather tense,” Felix said from the chair across from him. 

The red faded from Adrien’s vision as he turned his attention to his cousin. “I’m copying you. You’re the one with a stick up your ass all the time.” 

“Oh, please,” Felix said, shaking his head. “I’ve never meant someone more perpetually tense than you are.” 

Adrien rolled his shoulders back to relax them and sunk down further into his chair. “Whatever. This isn’t something I want to talk about with you.” 

“Really?” Felix asked, raising one of his brows. “Why are you so offended? I’m merely pointing out that you always get worked up over things too easily. I would think that that would be an important quality for you to be aware of.”

“I do _not_ get worked up too easily,” Adrien scoffed. 

“Then, let me rephrase it,” Felix said, leaning forward in his chair. “You get worked up over things too easily… when they involve Marinette.”

Adrien clenched his jaw but remained silent. Felix had hit him right on the mark, and they both knew it. It was difficult not to let his emotions show. 

“Can you honestly tell me that you would be fuming like you are right now if it had been you that had almost run into your father tonight instead of her?” Felix asked. “You would have brushed it off like nothing had happened the minute you walked out of there because you have absolutely no feelings toward him. When it was Marinette, on the other hand-”

“Okay, okay,” Adrien said, holding up his hands in surrender. “I see your point.” 

Felix settled back in his seat and turned towards his desk. He picked up a pen, looking over a piece of paper. Adrien tapped his fingers on the arm of the chair, biting his lip. He was still trying to sort through all of the different emotions that had been welling up inside him for the past hour. He’d feel anger boiling within him one second and like he was walking on air the next.

Felix’s pen paused, and the sound of scratching on paper disappeared. Turning his chair slightly back toward his cousin, Felix sucked in a sharp breath. “What do you think his game is? In the long run?”

“Hm?” Adrien asked, quirking an eyebrow. “Well… he certainly doesn’t have the same goals as us. Father already has the upper hand, and we haven’t even started making ourselves a threat yet.” 

“Do you think we should start making ourselves a threat?” Felix asked. 

Adrien’s eyes drifted over to his desk. Their future plans were all laid out in three-ringed binders stacked next to his computer. Progress was supposed to be slow moving. They expected these things to take a year at least to start up, and even then, things would not be perfect. 

But now, there were other things that Adrien considered to be more important. Building all this wasn’t just about protecting himself from getting sucked back into a life he hated. There were other people he wanted to make sure weren’t hurt in the crossfire either. 

Adrien slowly nodded yes, and the hint of a smile that could easily have been described as sadistic appeared on Felix’s face. “I’ll draw up some papers, then.” 

\---------------------

Adrien slumped against his desk, exhausted. It had taken several days to finalize everything — with a few slight changes, since he and Felix were moving up their original plans — but it was finally done. _Bonne Chances_ would be like a brand new company in the morning. Even deals with a boutique had gone through, and Marinette’s designs would be for sale by end of the month. 

Forcing himself to sit back up, lest he fall asleep there, Adrien stretched his arms over his head. He should have tried to at least get up to the apartment above before he passed out. At this point, he doubted he would even take off his work clothes before falling into bed. 

Adrien stood and moved out of the small corner of the second floor balcony where his desk was located. As he got closer to the railing, Adrien could see a light still on from down on the workshop floor. Furrowing his brows, he peered over the edge. 

Marinette’s dark hair was illuminated by the single lamp she had next to her, making it look as though there were streaks of blue throughout. 

As quietly as he could, Adrien jogged along the balcony and down the stairs to the first floor. He approached Marinette carefully, not wanting to startle her awake. Slowly, Adrien reached out and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. 

_“Marinette,”_ Adrien whispered. He got a soft groan in response as Marinette’s face scrunched up, but she stayed stubbornly asleep. Adrien huffed. He didn’t want to shake her or scare her. Gripping her shoulder a little tighter, Adrien lightly shook her and spoke her name again. _“Marinetteee._ Mademoiselle de Bondieu…”

Adrien leaned down, bringing himself eye level with her. With his fingertips, he lightly brushed the hair out of her face. Marinette looked so peaceful sleeping like this. He could just leave her here to rest. She probably needed it, too. Her eyelashes fluttered slightly as she took another deep breath. Every small thing she did seemed strained in the hunched over position she was in. It would be best if he could just get Marinette to go to a comfortable bed and then crash. 

Adrien sighed deeply. He knew what needed to be done. He leaned forward, a little closer to her face, and blew air directly onto her eyelid. 

Marinette seemed startled even before she opened her eyes, and jumped in her seat. Adrien stepped back from her as far as he could before her attention was directed solely on him. Marinette seemed barely awake but she was giving him a glare that, even weakened by her sleep deprived state, was almost enough to take him down. He didn’t make eye contact, rocking back and forth from the balls of his feet to his heels, hands clasped behind his back. 

“What are you doing?” Marinette asked, her voice sounding a little hoarse. 

Adrien shrugged, trying to look as innocent as possible. Marinette let out an annoyed groan and started rest her head back down. Adrien rushed over to her, pulling her back up by the shoulders and leaning her against his chest as he stood behind her. “Woah… That is not a good idea.” 

Marinette rubbed her eyes. “Why did you have to wake me up?”

“You can’t spend the night here,” Adrien said. “I’m kicking you out.” 

“Well, that’s too bad,” Marinette said, slowly standing up out of her chair. She paused for a moment as she got to her feet. Her eyes widened and Marinette seemed to sway back and forth slightly. Adrien realized that her vision must have blacked out and quickly put one of his hands back on her shoulder. Almost immediately, Marinette placed her own hand on top of his, her fingers gripping his tightly. Her eyes drifted to him as she steadied, and dropped her hand back to her side. Marinette stepped away from him and walked around to the other side of the work bench. “I’ve got a lot more things to do tonight before I can actually be done-”

“You sent everyone else home hours ago,” Adrien said.

“Yes, well, this is for me,” Marinette said, gathering up pins and cutting tools. “I’m not going to keep anyone here just because I have things I need to get done.” 

Adrien noticed that Marinette was handling her things more harshly than usual. She was slamming things down on the table, even the pins, which made Adrien wince every time she picked one up, fearing she would stab through her hands. He crossed around to the other side of the table, standing next to her, and grabbed the pin cushion. Carefully, Adrien took the pins she was holding in her hand and stuck them into the cushion. Marinette’s movements slowed and she fiddled with the cutting tools on the workbench in front of her.

“You seem upset about something else,” Adrien said. He kept himself focused on his task but watched out of the corner of his eye as Marinette’s hands stilled completely. “Come on, you’re distracting yourself, so you must be worried about something.”  
“Stop reading me so easily,” Marinette said. She sounded completely serious but there was a ghost of a smile on her face. 

“Isn’t that the point, though?” Adrien asked. “That’s why we're doing this together, so we can help each other out when we get stressed… You know… _partners.”_

Marinette hummed and nodded in agreement. “I see your point,” She said.

“But…” Adrien prompted her. 

“But,” Marinette sighed, “I want to be able to carry my own weight in this. You hired me, someone with absolutely no experience, and I just want to make sure that… That it isn’t burdening you.” 

Adrien stuck the pin he had been holding into the cushion. He rested his hands on the countertop, index finger tapping along to some made up beat. 

For the first time, Adrien let himself look at her. Really look. Marinette seemed so weighed down, and the feeling of guilt settled in his stomach, along with the conviction that it was his fault. He needed to ask her what he had done to make her feel this way. He needed to find a solution to fix it. 

But at the same time, he was afraid of the answer he would get. 

Adrien hated to think that he had failed her in any way. His entire goal was propped up by the idea that he needed to give Marinette all the support she deserved and more. Hell, he had even just made plans for the future that would benefit her more than anyone else. Marinette had given him so much already, agreeing to stand by his side, provide him with the things he was incapable of doing himself. Even stepping out of her comfort zone to help him. And it was amazing. 

Adrien admired her, he loved the way she made him feel when she was around. He-

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Marinette’s voice cleared the fog that had settled in his mind. Adrien stopped wandering through the misty fields of his thoughts just as she had appeared before him. Just before he had reached an epiphany. He was sure of it. There was something just beyond that he needed to reach out to, but it didn’t seem like Marinette was blocking the way to that. 

He hadn’t realized that he had just been staring at her that entire time. Adrien had no idea how long it had been, if he had been looking at her for seconds or minutes while spacing out. 

Marinette seemed almost concerned. Her brows were furrowed as she waited for an answer from him. 

He couldn’t give her a proper one. Not just yet. That field of thought was vast and there had to be another way to get to what he was looking for. Adrien needed to change directions, trying running through that fog a different way. And Marinette was, simultaneously, a distraction and his motivation. 

Adrien took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment as he thought about what to do next. He needed to balance her being both.

"You shouldn't feel bad for leaning on me," Adrien said. Without warning he placed his hands on her waist, lifting her up as Marinette let out a surprised squeak, and set her down on the workbench. They were eye to eye now, and could barely stop themselves from laughing. "You're not that heavy anyway."

As Marinette’s laughter began to die down, the tired look in her eyes returned. Her shoulders slumped forward and her head slowly drooped forward until it rested on his shoulder. Sucking in a deep breath, Adrien tried to control the sudden heat he felt rising in his cheeks. It was lucky that Marinette couldn’t see him, as he was sure that his entire face was a few shades darker than a tomato. 

He was sure that he had always felt affected by her this way, possibly even before they had grown closer, but somehow in the last five minutes the effect had increased tenfold. 

Marinette’s ear was right next to his mouth, and he did his best to speak quietly. “Maybe it’s time to turn in for the night.” 

“No,” Marinette said, her voice slightly muffled. She pulled back, looking perfectly composed and Adrien had only two seconds to try to match her, hoping that it was dark enough that she wouldn’t see the lingering red tint on his cheeks. “I still have things to do-”

“You really want to work yourself to the point of exhaustion?” Adrien asked.

“I’ve been here just as long as you have today,” Marinette said.

“Well, I don’t have to be working on my feet all day,” Adrien said. “I get to work in a cushy office chair while you have to be bent over a sewing machine or drawing tablet. My job isn’t exactly difficult-”

“Don’t say it’s not difficult,” Marinette interrupted him. “Don’t diminish all the hard work you do just to try and win an argument with me. I see you and Felix wandering around here all day frustrated with how things are going.”

“Work is going to be frustrating anyway.” Adrien tried to follow her gaze as Marinette’s eyes drifted away from him. There was definitely something she was holding back, and Adrien wanted to know what it was. “Marinette, we all knew that going into this, right? I mean, that was the point of doing this together. Because it was _going_ to be hard.”

No matter what he tried, Adrien couldn’t get Marinette to look back at him. Having her right in front of him was hard for him too. It was making talking a difficult thing to do. Looking each other right in the eye as they tried to spill their secrets was only causing them to close up more. 

Adrien turned away, moving back to Marinette’s side. He leaned up against the wooden work table, crossing his arms over his chest. The part of her thigh that was hanging off the table was pressed up against his hip, keeping them tethered together, aware of each other’s presence, and every few seconds, as she swung her legs back and forth, her calf would brush up against his knee. 

Standing in this way, Adrien felt closer to her now.

Marinette took a deep breath beside him. “You…” Her voice was barely above a soft whisper and Adrien waited patiently for her to speak. “You trust me. Right?”

“Trust you- I-” Adrien stammered. The question felt silly to him. The answer, completely obvious to him. Here he was, thinking that he had made everything so clear for her, when maybe that hadn’t been the case at all. Perhaps he hadn’t been clear. Maybe he stuttered too much or tried to change the subject whenever he blushed. If Marinette didn’t know already that he trusted her completely, then it was his fault for not showing it. “Marinette, I- I trust you more than anyone else in the entire world.” 

The swinging of Marinette’s feet stopped. 

“Can we please not pretend like everything's okay?” Adrien asked. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Marinette wringing her hands in her lap, and he reached over to take them, stilling her movements and offering her comfort. “Marinette, please talk to me. For real.” 

“I-” Marinette stuttered. “I, uh-”

Adrien waited patiently. He would always wait patiently for her. It didn’t matter when, Adrien just wanted her to open up to him. Marinette made him feel less lost, less like he was running around aimlessly. 

“I- I think I failed you,” Marinette said, her voice growing quieter with every word. Adrien was about to refute that, but she seemed ready to speak again. He closed his mouth, waiting for her to finish. “You said that you trusted me, and I tried the best I could to do what you needed me to, but I think I failed.”

Adrien sucked in another deep breath. He wanted _so_ badly to tell her no, that it wasn’t true, but would she believe him? How long had she been telling herself this to believe that it was true? “Marinette, I don’t know what you think you might have done, but I would never-”

“We still haven’t heard back from Jean,” Marinette said. Adrien frowned at the mention of him. Why did he have to be brought into this conversation- _No, no,_ Adrien thought, shaking his head slightly. This wasn’t about his feelings. Marinette went back to swinging her legs and rubbing her fingers together even as Adrien still held her hand. “It’s been almost two weeks since the gala and he still hasn’t called me. I mean- He’s not going to call, right?”

“It was your first networking event. It’s okay if you didn’t succeed,” Adrien reassured her. He rubbed the pad of his thumb across the top of her hand, which seemed to calm her a little more, but Marinette’s breathing had barely steadied at all since the start of their conversation. Adrien was determined to get that under control. “You know that I’m- we’re, Felix and I- We’re still proud of you, right?”

Marinette chuckled, shrugging her shoulders. “Well, I don’t know about Felix.”  
“He is.” Adrien nodded. “Even if this one time doesn’t work out… It doesn’t mean we’re going to automatically kick you off the team. So, no saying you're a burden, or you’re not carrying your own weight. You just designed our entire first collection, and you manage tons of people. You have no _idea_ how grateful I am to you.” 

Adrien felt a sense of ease settle in him as a small smile appeared on Marinette’s face. Her shoulders were no longer tense, and her hands had completely relaxed in his. Adrien wasn’t ready to let go of her. He still wanted to hold her hands like this. It felt warm and safe, like they were passing strength to one another. 

He'd meant it when he said that he was grateful to her. That had been a moment where it felt like the fog was lifting again, he was getting a little glimpse at clarity. Clarity had only offered him the sight of her, though. Marinette was still standing in front of him in that field, perhaps she had been always, no matter where he wandered to. If she had always been just out of sight, on the other side of that wall of fog, Adrien was sorry he hadn’t noticed earlier. 

Marinette must have been coming closer to him for quite some time. She had been walking towards him, and Adrien had only ever intended friendship, partnership, if and when they finally met in the middle. There was something now, however, that made Adrien’s chest feel hot at the thought of Marinette. He was tempted to say that it was a burning desire for something more, but he would admit, the thought of that scared him. What would it be like to want Marinette as more than a friend? As more than just his business partner? Would she accept that? 

Could Adrien accept that? 

Marinette’s eyes turned towards him for the first time in minutes. 

_Oh._

Oh, yes. 

Yes, he could.

The epiphany was there, right in front of him. Stupidly, Adrien had been searching around and thinking that the reason why it had kept coming back to her had been because Marinette was just a stepping stone to what every discovery he was trying to make. Marinette wasn’t a stepping stone, a bullet point on the list of things he needed to figure out, or a marker to point him in the right direction. She was the end of a path, a light in the fog. 

Marinette was the answer. 

“Adrien?” The sound of his name in her voice startled him just as it had before. Adrien focused in on her eyes, another questioning stare looking back at him. “You keep looking at me like that.”  
Adrien let go of Marinette’s hand. His own still rested on her knee, and Adrien shifted so he was faced toward her, his hip leaning against the table. “How am I looking at you?”

Adrien had no clue why his voice had come out sounding deep, raspy. His manner of speech clearly startled Marinette as well.

“Like you’re- You’re…” She trailed off. Adrien moved even closer, ruining all chances that Marinette would be able to form a coherent sentence. She was distracted by him, by his eyes. By the fact that they were now looking solely at her lips. Adrien lifted his hand from her knee and brushed her bangs out of the way. Their faces were mere centimeters away when she finally managed to regain control of her voice, and spoke in no more than whisper. “Like you’re about to kiss me.” 

Adrien looked directly into her eyes, the corner of his mouth turning up into a smirk. “Are you extending an invitation?”


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this is kind of a hot mess, chapter has not been beta read just wanted to send it out into the universe *dusts off hands* whew okay

The alarm hadn’t been going off. 

It didn’t matter too much. Adrien had been awake since three in the morning after a restless few hours of sleep. But he had specifically bought this alarm to go off in the morning and the damn thing wasn’t working. 

Adrien ran his fingers through his hair for probably the thousandth time, messing it up even more. He didn’t even change his clothes when he finally crawled into bed the night before. The heater, apparently, hadn’t been turned on either, and Adrien made a freezing shuffle towards the bathroom to take a hot shower. He only felt slightly better by the time he was dressed. Walking would certainly mean he would be late, so Adrien jogged most of the way there. When he was actually starting to earn a little money, investing in a car was probably a good idea. Lord knows Felix would never pick him up if he asked. 

Even if tardiness was at stake, Adrien decided he couldn’t skip breakfast after the incessant grumbling his stomach became too noticeable to ignore. Stopping in a small cafe that was halfway between the school and the apartment, Adrien waited in the short line before stepping up to the register.

Adrien contemplated for a moment whether or not he should get anything else. A coffee and a pastry would be enough for him, but would any of his friends want anything? Looking at the menu board, Adrien shook his head. He couldn’t remember how any of his friends drank their coffee except for-

He probably shouldn’t take any for Marinette. That would go against their discussion the night before.

By the time he arrived, Adrien expected most people to be heading inside the classrooms already. He caught a glimpse of Alya and Nino walking up the steps together and waved at them to get their attention. They didn’t smile at him, and Adrien’s face fell as he caught sight of their worried expressions. Alya waved back and nodded towards the bottom of the steps. The two figures sitting on the edge of the railing next to each other were instantly recognizable. 

Felix’s face was visible to him, brows furrowed together in a cross of confusion and worry as his hand hovered over the bent-over shape of the person sitting next to him. Adrien stopped short of them, standing a few feet away as he waited for some kind of explanation. A look of relief passed over Felix’s face as he realized Adrien was standing here. He dropped his hand from where it rested on Marinette’s shoulder and scooted slightly away from her. 

“Where have you been all morning?” Felix asked, harshly. “I’ve been trying to call you-”

Adrien stood frozen as Marinette lifted her head, and Felix’s voice fell silent as their eyes met.

_ “Are you extending an invitation?” _

_Adrien moved to cup her cheek, feeling the shaking breath she let out on his skin, sending chills down his spine and making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Marinette wasn’t reacting other than that, and after a moment, Adrien felt his heart drop at the thought that he had just fucked up immensely. His fingers went slack as be began to draw his hand away, pulling his face back slightly. “I- I’ sorry. I shouldn’t have-”_ _  
_ _The interruption was sudden and unexpected as Marinette seized his face and pulled him back to her. Adrien barely had time to process that he was kissing her before he was too enthralled in the moment to care about anything else. All he could feel was the touch of her skin and desperately wanted her to pull him in even closer._

_ Almost as though she had been reading his own thoughts, one of Marinette’s hands dropped to his shoulder and began pushing Adrien around to the front of her. He stood perpendicular to her knees and gripped the fabric of her shirt at her hips, bringing her closer towards him and to the edge of the table to achieve the closeness he desired. In the next second, Marinette’s fingers were in his hair. Adrien’s arms wrapped around her waist as the kiss deepened even further.  _

_ Adrien hadn’t been expecting to get to this moment. Five minutes ago, he hadn’t even been thinking about kissing her at all. It was the only thought that occupied him now, to continue to let her take over his mind. Adrien had no intention of letting go before she did. Marinette could decide when to stop. She had started this in the first place, and now Adrien was determined to be bold as well.  _

_ He did his best to make his movements seem well, practiced, without hesitation when in all honesty, this was the first time Adrien had ever kissed anyone. It was the first time he had ever really  _ **_wanted_ ** _ to kiss anyone. This was sweet and kind, and soft, and everything he had imagined. It was worth getting his hopes up and romanticizing all his life.  _

_ Being so closed off, alone for what felt like forever, Adrien had dreamed of feeling this safe and this happy for a long time. He had been so scared of letting himself try to fill the void left by people who had left him, to give in and allow someone to be so close to him again.  _

_ Adrien had always intended to be Marinette’s friend, but he had never intended to sneak her way into his heart without him even noticing.  _

_ Reaching up to where his hands were entangled with his hair, Adrien took one of Marinette’s hands, lacing their fingers together as he moved it down in between their chests. The back of her hand rested just over his heart, which was pounding faster and faster with each passing second.  _

_ Adrien squeezed her hand tighter in his own, determined not to let go.  _

_ Marinette pulled back.  _

_ By the time Adrien opened his eyes, she was already staring at him with an unreadable expression. One hand was already resting at her side, and slowly, almost painfully, she began to slip her other hand from his grasp. Confusion washed over Adrien but he didn’t hold her there, letting her unlace their fingers and her hand fall down to her side. _

_ Marinette was completely disconnected from him now, and Adrien sensing that more space was needed, took a few steps back. She hopped down from the workbench, turning away from him immediately and walking towards the opposite side of the room. He watched, unable to move, as she raised a hand to forehead and ran it down her face, heard the sniffling sounds as Marinette kept her back to him.  _

_ The feeling of euphoria was passing quickly now, replaced with a deep sense of dread that was making its home in his chest.  _

_“A-are you okay?” Adrien asked._ _He lifted his foot to take a step forward but hesitated before deciding to stay exactly where she was, not messing with the distance she had deliberately put between them._

_ Marinette turned back around to face him, now looking just as confused as he was. “What was that?” _

_ “You kissed me,” Adrien said. Her clear distress was weighing on him, and Adrien’s immediate thought was to comfort her. “Marinette, I-” _ _  
_

_ “I’m sorry,” she said, covering her face with her hands. “Sorry. Sorry, sorry.” _ _  
_

_ “Sorry?” Adrien asked, confused. His steps toward her were tentative, but she wasn’t backing away. Adrien kept a steady pace as he approached her and reached out to place a hand on her shoulder. At that point, she finally backed away from him again, and Adrien froze. “Why- why are you apologizing?” _

_ Marinette shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest. “I shouldn’t have done that. That was a mistake.”  _

_ Adrien’s mouth hung open in shock at her words. He stuttered, and scrambled, and tried to gather his thoughts. He almost laughed, a single sound made its way out of his mouth before he covered it with his hand.  _

_ “Are you okay?” Adrien looked up from the ground to see Marinette looking at him with concern.  _

_ It took Adrien all of two seconds for him to gain his composure. He had done it before. Not letting Marinette see his emotions was easy enough, even if the hurt he was feeling now wouldn’t go away for a while, he knew that.  _

_ And in those two seconds, Adrien wiped his expression into a blank slate and answered. “Yeah, I’m fine.”  _

_ He took a seat on one of the stools, folding his hands in his lap so he wouldn’t wring them. Marinette’s concern hadn’t faded and she looked at him skeptically. She took a deep breath shaking her head, and let out a short laugh like he almost had. “I’m sorry, I should have asked you first. I don’t know what I was thinking just kissing you. We joke and flirt a lot, so I know you didn’t mean-” _

_ “I did mean it,” Adrien said before he could stop himself. He couldn’t take it back then, what he had said was clearly unmistakable, and he had decided earlier to be bold. “It wasn’t a joke, Marinette, I was asking if you wanted me to kiss you.”  _

_ “Wh- Why?” Marinette asked.  _

_ “Why? Because I like you,” Adrien said. It was the simplest, goddamn thing in the world to say now. Adrien liked Marinette.  _

_She spoke almost breathlessly. “Really?” Marinette asked. “Are you serious?”_ _  
_ _“Do you-” For all his bravado a few seconds before, Adrien felt less confident asking this question. He could know his own feelings and his own mind, but her’s was a mystery to him. Marinette was right. They did jokingly flirt with each other all the time, and maybe he didn’t realize how much of it he had actually meant before now, but he had no way to tell if it was the same for her. “Do you not feel the same way?”_

_ The rise and fall of Marinette’s chest were acutely noticeable. She looked away for a moment, only a moment, and Adrien’s heart fell as it only took that much time for her to make her decision. “I don’t know.”  _

_ “Okay.” Adrien’s voice barely came out at all. “Okay. That’s fine. I- I don’t want to pressure you or anything-” _

_ “You’re not,” Marinette said, shaking her head. “I kissed you. The only person here pressuring me is myself.”  _

_ Adrien nodded. “Then it’s okay,” he said, hopping off the stool and heading towards the stairs. “We don’t have to talk about this anymore.” _

_ “Just like that?” Marinette asked.  _

_ “Like what?” Adrien stopped in his tracks, turning back around to face her.  _

_ “You really don’t want to discuss this anymore?” She made her way towards him. “Adrien, we just kissed. You told me that you liked me. As more than just a friend. Can we please talk about this? Isn’t our friendship important enough for that?” _

_ “Yes, which is why I can’t do this right now,” Adrien said and began incessantly pacing across the floor. “Our friendship is one of the most important things in the world to me. Our partnersehip is important to me. I made that clear before, so I can’t ask you to-” _

_ Adrien stopped in his tracks, running his hands through his hair.  _

_ “I want to ask- I can’t ask about something you don’t know the answer to.”  _

_ Marinette shook her head slowly. “I wish I could say something better than I don’t know.”  _

_ “I’m okay with that,” Adrien said, trying not to grit his teeth and speak as normally as possible through the pain. He wanted to reach out and take her hand, but resisted the urge to. “Marinette, I want you to answer when you’re ready. Not because you feel like you have to because I said that I liked you. I don’t know is okay with me right now.”  _

_ Adrien’s chest tightened as Marinette wiped away a stray tear from her eye. “I don’t know how you can be so honest with me.” _

It’s killing me right now,  _ Adrien thought.  _

_ “Whenever you’re ready,” Adrien said. “Whenever you want to talk about it, that’s okay with me. I’m- I’m okay with waiting.”  _

“Adrien,” Felix snapped. Tearing his eyes from Marinette, he looked at his cousin. The annoyed look on Felix’s face almost made him want to turn and run. Adrien could almost hear the thoughts going through his head. Something along the lines of “I was forced to emotionally comfort someone before 9 am and now you’re spacing out like an idiot.” 

“Sorry,” Adrien said, pulling his phone out of his back pocket. “I guess it’s dead.” 

Looking between Felix and Marinette, it wasn’t a secret that something was up. They both seemed nervous. Adrien raised his eyebrow, waiting for one of them to speak up first. 

“Jean called me this morning,” Marinette said. “I’ve scheduled a lunch meeting with him for this Friday.” 

The two sides of Adrien’s brain fought with each other on which would provide the reaction to this particular sentence. Luckily, the professional side of him one out, and Adrien smiled as wide as he could. “That’s amazing!” 

Marinette gave him a small smile and shrugged. Adrien noticed that Felix didn’t look to happy about the situation either. He would at least have some expression on his face that was his own version of happiness. Maybe the excited, professional side had been the wrong way to go. 

“What’s wrong?” Adrien asked letting his expression fall. “What happened?”

Marinette was busy looking down at her hands, and Felix wasn’t meeting his eyes either. Adrien was growing more and more worried by the second. He wanted one of them to answer him and was getting to the point where he was ready to shake it out of them if one of them didn’t speak in the next five seconds. 

“Felix,” Adrien said in a harsh tone. “Tell. Me.” 

Felix sighed, standing to his feet and going toe to toe with his cousin, lowering his voice as he spoke. “Apparently, Jean will be bringing his father, CEO of the Yves Basset fashion house with him,” he said. There was more to that, Adrien knew there was, and he raised an eyebrow waiting for Felix to continue. “As well as another interested party. Gabriel Agreste.” 


End file.
